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“ Within  ten  days  thou  wilt  seem  a god,  to  those  to  whom  thou  art 
now  a beast  and  an  ape,  if  thou  wilt  return  to  thy  principles  and  the 
worship  of  reason.”  — Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus , Emperor  of  Rome. 


The  Modern  practice. 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 

OR, 

SCIENTIA  VILE 


Science  (L.,  Scientia)  — The  orderly  arrangement 
of  ascertained  facts.  Vitte — of  Life. 


By  C.  W.  POST. 

(, WORDED  FOR  PLAIN  PEOPLE .) 


PUBLISHED  BY 

LA  VITA  INN  COMPANY, 
Battle  Creek,  Mich. 

( 


COPYRIGHT,  1894, 

By  LA  VITA  INN  COMPANY, 

Battle  Creek,  Mich. 


13 1 

"p?4 "m 


Dedicated 

to 

the  Principle  of  Life,  the 

Divine  Part  of  Man, 
by 

the  Author. 


488560 


“All  great  reforms  have  been  instigated  by  the  untiring 
efforts  of  a few  independent  thinkers.  Each  century  has  had 
its  leaders,  and  those  leaders  have  ever  been  men  of  thought. 

Superficial  minds  are  apt  without  thought  to  adopt  certain 
opinions  as  their  own,  and  to  adhere  to  those  ideas  with  a 
tenacity  born  of  ignorance.  The  broad,  thoughtful  mind 
weighs  the  arguments  on  both  sides  of  a question,  and  is  ever 
open  to  conviction,  while  the  narrow-minded  bigot  reiterates 
his  opinions  with  on  obstinacy  which  can  bear  no  opposition.” 
— Anon. 


Sickness,  Sin,  and  Disease  are  creations  of  the  human 
intellect,  and  exist  only  in  a mesmeric  or  abnormal  state. 
These  unieal  conditions  disappear  under  the  white  light  of 
the  higher  intelligence.  The  lower  mind  or  animal  intellect 
will  sturdily  contest  the  truth  of  this  because  that  mind  is 
conscious  only  of  the  physical  plane  compassed  by  the  five 
senses.  It  is  only  when  the  ignorance  of  intellect  is  displaced 
by  the  higher  intelligence,  the  psychic  sense,  Soul,  Life,  or  Di- 
vine Mind,  whichever  term  seems  best,  that  the  being  gains  a 
knowledge  of  the  plane  of  eternal  principles  and  of  man’s  con- 
nection with  his  cause.  This  knowledge  unfolds  the  new  man 
and  brings  with  it,  according  to  law,  an  endowment  of  the 
ponderous  power  of  Life,  dismissing  the  unreal,  breaking  the 
mesmeric  spell,  and  returning  man  to  a natural,  normal  state, 
from  the  world  of  illusion  to  the  world  of  eternal  realities. 


[4] 


KNOW  FACTS,  FOUNDATION 
PRINCIPLES. 


Such  Knowledge  Carries  with  it  Power  to  Free  the 
Slave  Bound  in  Mental  Illusion  and 
Physical  Ails. 


This  book  has  as  little  need  of  a preface  as  a 
first-class  surgeon  has  of  a formal  introduction  to  a 
patient  whose  severed  artery  he  has  been  called  to 
tie  ; it  is  his  business  to  go  straight  at  the  work  he  is 
called  to  do.  So  with  us  (reader  and  writer)  ; let  us 
proceed  at  once  to  the  work  of  healing,  and  after  the 
patient  is  well,  we  can  discuss  the  theories  more  at 
our  leisure. 

Now  you  who  are  well  and  surround  the  bedside 
with  anxious  doubts,  fears,  and  scoffs  at  treatment 
you  know  nothing  of,  will  be  kind  enough  to  stand 
one  side  for  the  time  and  let  the  writer  talk  alone 
with  the  patient. 

I have  a word  to  say  to  you,  friends  and  well  ones, 
on  page  24.  Step  right  over  to  that  page,  therefore, 
and  get  an  introduction  to  the  subject  and  to  the 
author,  if  you  care  to. 

Now  a word  to  the  sick  one.  I come  to  your  side 
with  the  deep  compassion  of  a mother  for  her  helpless 
child.  I have  been  through  the  seven  times  heated 
furnace  (seven  years)  of  physical  disease  and  mental 

[5] 


6 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


distress.  When  man  is  thus  ripened  and  then  comes 
into  the  knowledge  of  Eternal  Life,  being  quickly  and 
effectually  healed  by  that  power,  the  most  tender 
sympathy  goes  out  to  a brother  or  sister  who  is 
still  struggling  in  the  mire  of  materiality.  It  produces 
a feeling  of  great  quiet  and  comfort  within,  to  be 
the  pen  by  which  our  Father  conveys  to  you  his  great 
truths  which  will  make  you  free  from  pain  and  dis- 
ease. “ Freely  ye  have  received,  freely  give.” 

A quiet  word  in  your  ear,  my  brother  or  sister.  You 
are  reading  these  words  with  one  sole  object  in  view , 
— to  be  well.  You  do  not  care  to  pose  as  a specially 
acute  critic.  You  do  not  care  to  feel  that  you  must 
criticise  any  of  the  statements  during  the  time  you 
are  getting  well.  Kill  off  the  old  man  (self)  and  let 
the  new  Being  come  up.  Know  yourself  as  Spirit, 
Mind,  and  not  body.  For  your  own  sake  be  entirely 
humble  and  passive  during  treatment,  and  let  these 
words,  as  the  instrument  of  Divine  Mind,  guide  you  as 
a little  child  is  guided.  When  you  read  the  written 
thoughts,  fall  into  the  same  strain,  join  me  fully, 
heart  and  soul.  You  thereby  get  at  once  into  the 
state  of  Health  and  Harmony. 

“ The  Kingdom  of  Heaven  is  at  hand  ” ; it  is 
right  here  now,  and  you  can  enter  it  at  once  by  put- 
ting yourself  in  possession  of  the  Higher  Mind  and 
letting  that  mind  guide  you,  denying  any  power  but 
one,  and  that  one,  Divine  Life,  the  Father  of  all. 

To  put  yourself  in  possession  of  the  Higher  Mind, 
you  will  still  all  voices  from  intellect  which  will  object 
to  the  teachings  herein.  Let  your  mind  be  passive 
and  receive  all  of  the  instruction  as  truth  revealed  to 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT.E. 


7 


man  from  the  Father  of  all  Truth.  Do  this  carefully, 
thoughtfully,  drive  out  doubt,  and  you  will  receive 
your  reward  daily. 

But , we  are  so  wonderfully  constructed  that  if  any 
individual  decides  to  doubt  or  ignore  the  voice  of  Truth 
as  expressed  through  a man  who  has  passed  through 
the  experience  necessary  to  gain  the  knowledge  he 
teaches,  such  an  individual  can  close  his  shell  and  the 
healing  thoughts,  which  are  winged  angels,  silently 
pass  him  by,,  until  later  on. 

You  may  depend  upon  it,  the  time  comes  to  every 
one  when  they  know  the  Truth  as  to  who  they  are, 
and  their  power.  It  will  come  to  some  here  and  on  this 
plane,  much  to  their  benefit  ; but  to  many,  after  they 
have  dismissed  this  body.  “Every  knee  shall  bow.” 
Be  humble,  content  to  receive  instruction  as  it  is 
given,  and  just  so  sure  as  you  let  these  words  sink  into 
you  as  Truth , you  will  be  made  free. 

After  you  are  conscious  of  Health,  you  are 
welcome  to  read  the  book  again  and  tear  the  state- 
ments to  pieces  as  much  as  you  like.  But  while 
ailing  and  seeking  to  get  into  Health,  I beg  of  you, 
for  your  own  welfare,  take  it  all  and  kill  every  doubt. 

Especially  destroy  the  first  voice  of  the  devil  : “I 
know  this  will  cure  many,  but  my  case  is  a real  case 
of  structural  disease  and  cannot  be  reached  by  these 
methods.”  That  is  the  first  thrust  of  evil,  kill  it. 

The  writer  of  these  pages  desires  to  say  noth- 
ing of  himself  other  than  as  a simple  instrument 
through  which  Divine  Principle  chooses  to  manifest 
itself  by  precept  and  example.  Placed  at  the  head  of 
an  institution  for  healing  by  the  practice  of  Natural 


8 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


Suggestion,  the  opportunity  for  study  and  the  daily 
experience  in  practice,  put  him  in  possession  of  many 
facts  and  truths  that  would  require  just  such  experi- 
ence for  any  one  to  gain.  Skill  in  mental  practice  is 
gained  in  the  same  way  as  skill  in  any  department  of 
science,  — by  observation,  study,  experience,  and  the 
ability  to  evolve  correct  conclusions. 

Read  carefully,  thoughtfully,  not  more  than  twenty 
pages  daily.  Afterward,  seek  an  easy  position,  where 
you  will  not  be  disturbed,  relax  every  muscle,  close 
your  eyes,  and  go  into  the  silence , where  mind  is 
plastic  to  the  breathings  of  Spirit,  and  where  God 
talks  to  the  Son.  The  thoughts  from  Divine  Univer- 
sal Mind  come  as  winged  angels  and  endow  you  with 
their  healing  power.  If  you  go  into  the  silence, 
humble  and  trusting,  you  will  come  out  enriched  and 
greatly  strengthened  in  body,  by  contact,  even  for  a 
short  time,  with  the  Father  of  all  Life  and  all  power, 
you  will  feel  refreshed  in  every  way,  and  food  taken 
will  digest  readily,  as  stomach  works  smoothly  when 
under  the  influence  of  the  Higher  Power.  Every 
nerve  and  every  muscle  will  at  times  feel  the  thrill  of 
health  and  power  coming  from  the  unseen  plane  of 
Life.  You  may  know  that  your  body  is  healing,  and 
healing  fast.  The  true  Being  is  perfect  at  all  times, 
let  the  mortal  body  manifest  its  natural  condition. 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT.E. 


9 


“God  gives  us  always  strength  enough  and  sense  enough 
for  what  he  wants  us  to  do  ; if  we  either  tire  ourselves  or  puzzle 
ourselves,  it  is  our  own  fault.  And  we  may  always  be  sure, 
whatever  we  are  doing,  that  we  cannot  be  pleasing  him  if 
we  are  not  happy  ourselves.” — Ruskin. 

You  do  not  live  in  body. — The  dissecting 
knife  of  the  surgeon  never  has  found,  and  never  will 
find,  the  vacant  space  supposed  to  have  been  occupied 
by  the  real  man  or  soul.  The  body  of  man  is  com- 
plete in  every  part,  weighs  as  much,  and  in  every  way 
is  as  perfect  the  moment  after  that  critical  point 
called  death,  as  it  was  before  ; but  the  place  occupied 
by  the  living  man  cannot  be  found.  The  most  minute 
examination  by  microscope  will  not  discover  it.  When 
that  thing  called  Life  was  present,  and  the  body  act- 
ive, it  seemed  to  be  a perfectly  operating,  and  even 
an  intelligent  piece  of  machinery. 

Shall  we  say  the  man  has  lost  his  life  ? This  would 
infer  that  we  considered  the  body  to  be  the  man,  and 
that  he  had  an  unseen  power  which  he  was  capable 
of  losing  ; or,  shall  we  say  the  man  has  dismissed  his 
body  ? Both  positions  cannot  be  maintained. 

The  body,  we  know,  is  made  up  of  earth  and  water, 
is  shifting  and  changing  continually,  but  the  real  man, 
that  operates  the  eyes,  the  tongue,  feet,  and  hands, 
lives,.  and  he  does  not  live  in  the  body.  He  is  the 
manager  of  body,  and  manages  it  either  poorly  or  well 
until  the  time  comes,  when,  according  to  law,  he  must 
dismiss  his  body  and  pass  by  what  naturalists  of  the 
present  day  term  a critical  point.  The  real  man 


10 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


never  dies,  and  all  sickness  or  disease  is  an  illusion  of 
the  lower  mind  or  intellect. 

The  Unseen,  Real  Man  is  Never  Sick. — 
Body,  which  is  made  of  material  that  belongs  to  one 
plane  or  kingdom,  is  subject  more  or  less  to  the  laws 
existing  upon  that  plane  ; but  the  real  man,  the  un- 
seen manager,  lives  upon  a plane  above  the  plane  of 
material,  and  on  his  true  plane  there  is  no  such  thing 
as  sickness,  disease,  distress,  woe,  discord,  or  death. 
Remember  this,  you  live  now  : That  which  lives  will 
never  die,  but  will  exist  eternally. 

You  are  living  just  the  moment  while  you  are  read- 
ing these  words. 

What  has  passed  even  five  minutes  ago  is  gone, 
and  is  therefore  dead  to  you.  Live  in  the  present. 
Make  it  pleasant.  Deny  the  right  of  the  body  to 
make  any  laws  of  discord  or  sickness  which  you  are 
subject  to. 

The  New  Testament  says,  “Know  the  Truth  and 
the  Truth  shall  make  you  free.”  This  is  the  “Truth” 
referred  to. 

God  is  the  life  of  man. — That  peculiar  unseen 
force,  which  moves  over  the  nervous  system  of  all 
animals  and  operates  their  mechanism,  is  called  Life. 
It  is  in  reality  God  ; not  an  attribute  of  God,  which 
he  has  sent  down  to  his  creations  from  his  far-off 
home,  and  gives  them  for  their  use.  This  is  by  no 
means  the  case,  but  God  is  the  Life  right  here  now, 
and  continually  with  us.  We  dwell  in  life,  and  life 
moves  our  bodies,  being  the  active  principle  which 
permits  the  motion  of  each  member,  the  internal  or 
vital  organs,  which  seem  semi-automatic,  as  well  as 
the  external  members,  which  are  moved  wholly  and 


OR  SCIENTIA  VITM. 


I I 

solely  by  our  own  will,  so-called.  This  active  prin- 
ciple, Life,  is  the  true  man,  which  has  a body.  It  is 
one,  and  we  are  one  with  the  eternal,  everlasting 
God,  the  Supreme  Energy  of  the  universe,  and  we 
never  die.  When  the  time  of  so-called  death  comes, 
we  may  dismiss  this  body,  made  of  earth  and  water, 
and  take  unto  ourselves  a new  creation  of  a form  of 
material  not  now  visible  to  the  eye  of  the  earthly 
body.  If  the  patient  will  close  the  eyes  and  retire 
into  absolute  silence  for  a time,  with  the  mind  in- 
tently dwelling  upon  who  he  is,  and  the  fact  that  he  is 
now  in  a Presence,  consciously  dwelling  with  a kindly, 
generous,  perfect  Father,  who  is  at  all  times  and 
under  all  circumstances,  with  us,  whether  we  are 
conscious  of  this  presence  or  not,  he  will  feel  the 
freshening  and  strengthening  effect  at  once.  It  is 
the  eternal  principle  of  Life,  Soul,  with  which  we  are 
one,  and  it  is  the  dearest,  warmest  friend  we  can 
possibly  conceive  of.  It  has  made  all  things  good 
and  perfect  for  our  enjoyment,  and  when  we  fail  to 
see  that  this  is  true,  it  does  not  change  the  fact,  nor 
drive  the  Father  away  from  us,  nor  we  from  life, 
one  jot  or  tittle,  except  to  our  false  knowledge  or 
consciousness. 

We  do  not  live  a life  that  is  apart  from  the  one 
Life,  or  God,  but  Life  is  God  manifesting  himself 
through  these  oodies.  Know  this  perfectly,  and  as 
you  know  it,  and  as  you  think  it,  as  you  hold  it  stead- 
fastly in  your  mind,  you  get  a thrill  of  power  from  the 
everlasting  Source  of  all  power,  and  you  become  con- 
scious of  increased  strength  and  vitality. 

You  perhaps  need  some  drilling  to  get  out  of  the 
animal  mind  into  the  one  universal  Mind,  which  is  the 


1 2 NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 

same  as  Life,  and  the  same  as  God.  If  you  cannot 
get  up  out  of  the  rut  of  the  animal  quickly,  repeat  to 
yourself  many  times,  hundreds  of  times,  if  you  will: 
‘ ‘ God  is  my  life.  God  moves  these  hands,  legs,  eyes, 
lungs,  stomach,  heart.  I am  moved  by  the  eternal, 
divine  Energy  and  Force  of  the  universe,  and  that 
power  is  my  real  self  and  is*  unlimited.  I am  one 
with  God,  dwelling  in  Him,  and  He  in  me.  The 
effort  of  the  animal  intellect  to  drag  me  down  is  the 
effort  of  a false  claimant.  I am  Soul,  Life,  Energy 
now  and  forever,  and  I have  the  right  to  command 
body  to  do  whatever  it  is  harmonious  for  body  to  do.” 
Go  over  J:his  steadily  whenever  you  can  get  a few 
moments  to  yourself,  and  as  you  do  so,  you  will  find 
you  grow  in  strength,  vitality,  and  health,  because 
you,  at  such  times,  dwell  on  the  plane  of,  and  in  the 
presence  of,  our  eternal  Father,  Divine  Energy,  God. 

You  do  not  live  a life  separate  from  the 
one  universal  life. — Professor  Shaler,  the  geolo- 
gist of  Harvard  University,  says  the  discovery  of  the 
unity  of  life  is  the  grandest  discovery  of  the  nineteenth 
century. 

Man  feels  that  he  has  a little  pinch  of  life  which  is 
his  own,  and  which  he  must  take  great  care  that  he 
does  not  lose.  He  believes  that  he  lives  a life  sepa- 
rate and  apart  from  God,  the  one  life. 

This  is  not  true. 

The  life  current,  which  is  the  real  man,  is  the  same 
that  manifests  through  all  so-called  living  things,  from 
the  blade  of  grass  up,  manifesting  in  different  degrees. 
When  you  once  fully  realize  that  ‘ ‘ in  Him  you  live, 
move,  and  have  your  being,”  and  that  it  is  God  who 
moves  your  legs,  .arms,  tongue,  and  stomach  — all 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT.E. 


13 


the  organs  of  the  body  — and  that  it  is  the  great 
unlimited,  tireless  energy  of  the  universe,  you  will 
feel  the  power  of  life  glowing  and  thrilling  your 
entire  make-up. 

Thinking  upon  this  line  steadfastly  is  the  “ drinking 
at  the  fountain  of  life,”  and  the  recuperating,  vitaliz- 
ing current  is  sent  from  one  end  of  your  being  to  the 
other. 

Is  your  stomach  troublesome  ? Realize  who  you 
are,  living  one  with  the  Father  of  all  life  and  partak- 
ing of  his  power. 

Go  to  the  table  and  eat  a fair,  reasonable  meal 
without  fear,  knowing  and  never  doubting  your  power 
to  make  stomach  perform  its  necessary  functions,  and 
in  a satisfactory  way,  so  long  as  it  is  ruled  by  the  God 
power. 

The  worst  cases  of  stomach  troubles  are  healed,  and 
in  many  cases  healed  instantly.  We  have  the  divine 
birthright  to  a perfect  body,  and  we  can  manifest  our 
rights  by  sticking  to  the  fact  that  we  have  them. 

You  have  been  fanatical,  perhaps,  on  the  subject  of 
how  terribly  you  have  been  ruled  by  the  body.  “My 
stomach  won’t  do  this,  my  liver  won’t  do  that,  and 
my  bowels  are  never  working  rightly,  ” etc. 

The  wonderful  being,  man , a part  of  the  God 
power,  can  make  conditions. 

He  soften  makes  them  of  sickness,  or  distress,  and 
holds  those  facts  uppermost  in  his  mind.  He  has 
endowed  the  body  with  power  to  give  trouble,  and 
this  is  the  only  power  the  body  has. 

Body  is  constructed  wholly  of  dead  mate- 
rial, and  has  no  life  or  intelligence  what- 
ever.-— It  is  a scientific  fact  that  the  body,  which  we 


14  NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 

have  always  esteemed  to  be  a living  organism,  never 
was,  and  never  can  be,  anything  more  than  a mere 
mud  doll. 

It  is  beautifully  constructed,  and  operated  in  a way 
to  challenge  the  deepest  admiration  of  the  niost 
profound  philosopher.  But  let  us  see  what  the 
facts  are. 

The  elements  of  the  ground,  which  are  taken  up 
by  the  wheat, •the  oats,  the  corn,  and  the  grass,  are 
by  these  specimens  of  plant  life,  chemically  changed 
and  combined  with  water  and  heat  until  we  know 
them  as  kernels  of  wheat  and  ears  of  corn,  etc. 

No  intelligence,  no  life  has  been  given  to*  the  dead 
matter  thus  far. 

Man  uses  the  grains  directly  for  food,  or  has  them 
fed  to  the  domestic  animals,  which  he  devours.  In 
either  case  there  is  another  chemical  change  or  crit- 
ical point  passed,  which  rearranges  the  original  earth 
and  water,  so  that  man,  according  to  a beautiful  law, 
takes  up  this  material  and  builds  it  into  his  body. 

He  makes  it  into  muscles,  eyeballs,  parts  of  the 
heart,  bones,  nerves,  blood,  hair,  etc.,  but  has  this 
earth  and  water  taken  upon  itself  any  intelligence, 
any  life,  any  power  ? Certainly  not.  It  is  merely 
used  as  beautiful  material,  by  the  sculptor,  the  un- 
seen sculptor,  who  is  back  of,  and  living  above,  the 
image,  but  is  daily  moulding  and  putting  in  new,  here 
and  there,  where  it  is  necessary. 

After  this  material  has  been  used  a little,  then,  ac- 
cording to  the  perfect  laws  of  the  Father,  the  blood 
passing  through  the  veins,  having  been  charged  with 
oxygen  from  the  lungs,  oxidizes,  burns  up,  tears 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT JE 


5 


down  this  material,  throws  it  into  the  little  river  of  1 
blood  and  carries  it  off  to  the  intestinal  canal,  the 
kidneys,  or  the  several  million  pores  of  the  body, 
from  which  sewers  our  old  bits  of  earth  and  water 
are  dismissed  from  body,  and  gradually,  according 
to  the  beautiful  law  still,  are  returned  again  to  their 
original  state,  earth  or  water. 

This  material  never  had  any  intelligence,  never  had 
any  power  during  all  the  time  we  used*  it.  Now,  do 
you  call  this  you  ? 

Is  this  the  great  being  which  thinks,  manages, 
operates,  and  controls  all  ? 

You  may  get  dust  upon  your  polished  shoe  that, 
if  you  could  trace  it  back,  was  at  one  time  a part  of 
the  valves  of  your  heart.  Would  you  say  that  dust 
on  the  shoe  is  you  ? 

Try  and  get  this  clearly.  You  are  an  invisible 
being,  using  elements  and  dismissing  them,  but  your 
body  is  not  you,  it  does  not  control  you,  and  never 
shall,  unless  you  mentally  endow  it  with  the  power 
to  do  so. 

Treatment. — Read  this  over  enough  to  commit  it. 

The  kingdom  of  God  is  within  me. 

Heaven  is  content  and  peace. 

I have  content  and  peace  with  me  now.  I dwell 
in  that  state  ; for  I know  that  Life,  Soul,  which  is 
the  real  me,  is  a part  of  and  one  with  the  Father, 
and  is  therefore  perfect  and  not  subject  to  any  of  the 
annoyances  which  the  mortal  intellect  pictures  for  me 
on  the  earth  plane. 

I am  like  my  Father,  Universal  Good. 

I am  like  my  Father,  Universal  Power. 


i6 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


I am  like  my  Father,  Universal  Harmony  and  Health. 

I know  the  great  intelligence  dwells  in  me,  and  is 
one  with  me. 

I know  Good  only,  and  have  shut  out  all  mental 
pictures  of  anything  but  good  ; for  Good  is  Harmony, 
and  Harmony  is  God,  and  God  and  I are  one. 

When  I take  up  with  evil  or  inharmony,  I have  left 
my  great  partner,  and  therefore  I am  liable  to  all 
sorts  of  distress,  in  the  mortal  sense  of  distress. 

I am  free,  for  God  is  my  Life. 

The  Sensitizing  Element  of  Body  is  the 
human  intellect. 

Physiology-  carefully  describes  many  of  the  beauti- 
ful parts  and  movements  of  the  human  body,  and  of 
their  needs  one  for  the  other,  and  of  the  beautiful 
nervous  system,  but  when  it  comes  to  explaining  that 
marvelous  power  or  energy  which  passes  over  the 
nerve  envelopes,  and  gives  or  seems  to  give,  what  is 
called  life  to  the  body,  physiologists  admit  that  it  is 
not  fully  understood  what  that  unseen  thing  is. 

When  the  human  body  is  in  conscious  possession 
by  the  intellect,  all  things  are  at  work  more  or  less 
correctly,  but,  under  the  influence  of  a mesmerist  or 
a hypnotist,  who  is  able  to  take  possession  of  the 
intellect  of  the  patient,  we  find  that  all  of  the  five 
physical  senses  have  passed  under  the  control  of  the 
operator,  who  has  temporarily  obtained  possession. 
We  find  that  steel  needles  can  be  thrust  through  the- 
cheeks  and  tongue  without  any  feeling  of  pain  what- 
ever. The  patient  is  made  to  see  any  sort  of  object 
that  the  operator  chooses.  He  is  made  to  eat  saw- 
dust and  experience  all  the  pleasure  of  eating  ice 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT.E. 


*7 

cream.  He  hears  whatever  the  operator  chooses  he 
shall  hear.  So  we  find  that  the  entire  sensation  of 
the  body  comes  under  the  head  of  human  intellect. 

We  also  must  not  fail  to  observe  that  while  the 
patient  is  in  this  mesmeric  state,  his  lower  powers 
seeming  to  have  been  captured,  the  life  current  is 
going  on  perfectly,  without  check  or  hindrance  ; and 
as  surely  as  the  human  intellect  is  the  lower  mind, 
just  so  surely  the  life  current  is  the  operation  of  the 
higher  mind,  which  is  the  soul,  spirit,  life  of  the  man, 
one  with  the  Father  of  all  life  ; and  this  element  can- 
not be  reached  or  affected  by  the  human.  It  is  per- 
fect and  always  will  be. 

Treatment. — Use  one  treatment  each  day,  and 
only  one.  Read  over  three  or  four  times  and  let  the 
thought  sink  in. 

I cnn  God  at  work.  God  is  the  only  power,  and 
that  power  is  being  shown  through  me  in  just  the 
amount  and  degree  that  I manifest.  That  which 
moves  the  body  and  all  its  parts  is  not  a power  sepa- 
rate and  distinct  from  Life  or  God.  It  is  Life.  It 
is  God,  and  it  is  my  true  self.  My  body  is  dead 
earth  and  water ; that  is  not  I.  The  only  real 
part  of  me  is  the  God  part,  Mind,  or  Life.  I have 
a shifting  bit  of  soil  moulded  into  a body.  It  is 
beautiful  enough,  but  it  is  not  I.  Knowing  that  I am 
part  of  all  Harmony,  all  Health,  and  all  Power,  I 
refuse  to  allow  the  dictates  of  the  lower  mind  to  force 
sickness  and  evil  on  my  mentality.  I am  well,  for 
the  Life  is  God,  and  God  is  never  sick. 


2 


i8 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


Henry  Ward  Beecher,  in  his  last  sermon,  said  : “So  out  of 
that  state  of  mind  which  was  implied  when  Christ  wrought  heal- 
ing, came  the  spiritual  power  that  took  on  a physical  result.  We 
do  not  know  what  the  hidden  power  of  the  soul  is  as  yet. 
There  are  all  around  the  world,  breaking  out  in  irregular  ways, 
instances  of  the  power  of  certain  states  of  the  mind.” 

Amelia  Barr,  in  “ A Sister  of  Esau,”  says  : “For  who  takes 
cold  or  receives  injury  while  the  spirit  has  the  upper  hand? 
Men  and  women,  driven  by  great  enthusiasms,  go  through  fire 
and  water  and  compass  impossibilities.  All  our  limitations  are 
of  the  body,  but  in  our  diviner  moments,  when  the  soul  takes 
command,  it  makes  but  small  account  of  them.” 


The  highest  method  in  mental  treatment. 

— It  has  been  discovered  by  a number  of  mental 
practitioners,  as  well  as  by  the  author  in  daily  prac- 
tice, that  the  most  direct  form  of  treatment,  which 
brings  the  quickest  and  surest  result  of  health  and 
comfort,  is  where  the  mind  is  fixed  upon  the  fact 
that  both  practitioner  and  patient  are  in  reality, 
simply  and  wholly,  Mind,  Life,  Soul,  and  the  thought 
that  there  is  any  such  thing  as  body  is  entirely 
dismissed. 

If  the  shape  of  the  body,  or  any  of  its  aches  or  ails, 
tcome  before  the  mind  during  treatment,  quickly  shut 
out  the  picture,  and  deny  that  there  is  any  such  thing 
as  body. 

Assert  that  all  is  mind,  and  mind  is  sufficient. 
Hold  that  thought  steadily. 

It  seems,  perhaps,  a curious  position  to  take,  and  a 
false  one,  that  there  is  no  body,  but  we  find,  upon 
analysis,  that  when  we  desire  to  dwell  completely  and 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT JE. 


19 


wholly  upon  the  plane  of  Spirit  or  Soul,  we  must  not, 
and  cannot  take  the  body  with  us,  and  if  we  do  enter 
that  plane  wholly , we  must  dismiss  body. 

We  cannot  hold  in  mind,  material  body  and  imma- 
terial soul  at  one  and  the  same  time,  and  get  the 
purifying,  vitalizing  effect  of  divine  energy ; therefore, 
in  your  treatment,  you  will  find  great  success  * will 
follow,  when  you  are  able  to  pass  body  totally  out 
of  your  consciousness,  and  hold  in  your  mind  the 
spiritual  consciousness  of  Power,  Life,  Energy,  God 
one  with  yourself,  and  having  the  right  to  manifest 
yourself  perfectly. 

It  may  require  some  little  practice  to  attain  the 
power  to  so  handle  the  mind,  but  it  will  certainly 
come  with  practice,  and  when  it  comes,  you  will, 
without  fail,  find  marvelous  power  comes  with  it. 

Cease  enmity,  adverse  criticism,  and  evil 
thoughts  of  all  kinds. 

A bitter  critic  is  most  universally  a poor  specimen 
of  physical  manhood,  for  the  reason  that  no  one  can 
continue  to  hold  adverse  thoughts  regarding  his 
fellow-man  without  its  manifesting  such  inharmony 
in  the  body.  There  are  many  women  who  are 
known  as  good  housekeepers,  but  who  must  have 
the  chairs  and  furniture  in  their  house  in  just  such  a 
position.  They  are  so  over  particular  and  fussy  that 
domestic  servants  will  not  remain  in  their  employ. 
When  the  husband  comes  home  at  night,  perhaps 
somewhat  weary  from  the  day’s  work,  he  is  met  with 
a tale  of  woe,  how  this  went  wrong  and  how  that  was 
out  of  fix,  and  the  wife  complains  of  rheumatism, 
headache,  or  some  other  bodily  ail,  which  makes  the 


20 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


husband  feel  as  though  he  would  rather  be  somewhere 
else  than  in  that  sort  of  home. 

It  is  seeing  evil  in  our  daily  surroundings  and  inci- 
dents that  causes  worry,  and  that  worry  causes  sick- 
ness of  various  sorts. 

It  is  a common  fallacy  to  suppose  that  the  sort  of 
woman  we  have  just  described  is  fussy  and  particular 
because  she  is  not  well.  You  might  as  well  call  this 
by  its  right  name.  It  is  a lie.  The  woman  is  sick 
because  she  grinds  evil  into  herself  continually,  and 
she  always  will  manifest  sickness  in  spite  of  the 
doctors,  and  all  the  potions  her  husband  can  buy, 
until  the  God-life,  which  is  lying  dormant  within  her 
is  roused,  and  she  comes  up  out  of  the  mud  of  materi- 
ality into  a knowledge  that  there  is  no  fret,  no  worry, 
no  annoyance  to  Spirit,  and  that  is,  in  reality,  all 
there  is  of  her. 

If  you  seek  continually  to  find  that  your  neighbor 
has  done  you  some  little  injury,  or  your  employer  is 
not  treating  you  just  right,  or  this  one  or  that  one  is 
“down  on  you,”  as  the  common  saying  goes,  you  are 
producing  children  of  your  mind  called  evil  thoughts, 
that  will  come  back  to  you  with  redoubled  force,  and 
you  will  feel  the  result. 

If  you  will  turn  on  the  other  tack,  and  continually 
train  your  mind  to  think  that  all  is  good — that  all 
people  are  your  friends,  no  matter  if  they  look  cross 
and  say  ugly  things,  look  right  through  such  manifes- 
tations of  the  lower  mind  and  see  the  life  back  of  it, 
which  is  perfect,  you  will  feel  good  from  the  tips  of 
your  ears  to  your  toes. 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT.E. 


21 

You  must  hold  charitable,  loving  thoughts  toward 
everything  which  manifests  life,  because  it  is  one  with 
you  ; perhaps  manifesting  in  a lower  or  higher  degree, 
but  the  power  which  does  the  manifesting,  which 
operates  the  molded  animals,  is  the  God  power  of 
which  you  are  a part,  and  as  you  hold  charitable, 
loving  thoughts  toward  all  living  things,  you  will  get 
the  reflex  action  in  the  same  kind  of  coin,  but  greatly 
increased. 

It  will  make  your  body  fat  and  healthy  and  put  your 
whole  nervous  system  in  perfect  balance. 

Try  it.  It  is  like  a draught  of  pure,  cold  water  to 
the  thirsty  man. 

The  New  Testament  repeats  over  and  over  again 
the  fact  that  love  for  your  fellow-man  and  God  is  the 
end  of  the  whole  commandment. 

Happiness,  peace  continually,  is  the  grand  object 
of  the  entire  universe,  so  hold  your  mentality  in  check 
against  ugly  thoughts  — any  thought  that  is  inhar- 
monious. 

See  no  evil,  but  see  good  in  all  things. 

The  pay  for  this  is  most  generous,  as  any  one  can 
quickly  discover  by  trying  it.  Let  us  analyze  adverse 
criticism  to  discover,  if  we  can,  what  motive  pro- 
duces it. 

Think  it  over  carefully,  and  you  will  find  that  it  is 
always  based  upon  an  effort  of  the  critic  to  show  to 
others  the  fact  that  he  is  wiser,  knows  more,  and  is 
more  perfect  than  the  one  whom  he  criticises,  therefore, 
it  is  based  wholly  on  the  pride  of  self,  and  that  self  does 
not  mean  the  higher  being,  but  it  is  the  lower,  human 


22 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


consciousness  ; and  the  more  one  tries  to  build  this 
up,  making  it  an  idol,  the  more  of  a little  hell  he 
creates  and  dwells  in. 

You  are  no  better  than  any  one  else  in  reality. 

If  you  are  able  to  manifest  a little  more  of  the  God- 
life  and  mind  than  your  neighbor,  be  content  to  let 
your  actions  speak,  and  do  not  puff  up  the  lower  self 
with  wordy  arguments  and  adverse  criticisms. 

Let  us  quote  Emerson  again,  “ Bey  and  not  seem" 

God  made  all  things  good.  There  is  no  such  thing 
as  evil  (which  is  simply  the  opposite  of  good),  except 
that  which  the  lower  consciousness  takes  into  itself 
and  admits  as  evil. 

Evil  seems  to  be  a negative  condition,  without  any 
basis  of  reality,  but  its  very  negation  makes  us  hurry 
to  return  to  the  one  harmony,  where  we  may  appre- 
ciate the  comfort  and  peace  there  seems  to  be  in  the 
ranks  of  Good  or  God. 

When  you  wish  to  feel  particularly  comfortable, 
stand  mentally  on  the  mountain  above  the  clouds, 
where  all  of  the  turmoil  and  seeming  evil  of  the  mor- 
tal is  shut  out. 

Making  laws. — It  is  impossible  for  the  average 
person,  until  he  becomes  skilled  somewhat  in  mental 
science,  to  understand  how  absolutely  he  is  governed 
by  laws  that  have  been  made  for  him  by  others.  If 
he  is  a Turk,  he  believes  that  the  Koran  is  the  in- 
spired writing  of  God.  This  is  a fixed  law,  fact,  a 
foundation-stone  for  his  very  being. 

It  would  be  like  tearing  out  a part  of  his  foundation 
to  undertake  to  tear  this  law  down  and  convince  him 
that  it  is  not  law,  and  is  not  a reality ; that  he 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT.E. 


23 


simply  accepted  the  statement  as  a fact  from  a source 
which  he  deemed  authority,  and  when  the  statement 
comes  up  before  the  bar  of  judgment  of  the  inner 
man  and  is  either  rejected  as  false,  or  accepted  as 
real,  the  law  is  thereupon  fixed  until  further  enlight- 
enment either  more  firmly  fixes  the  fact  as  a law,  or 
tears  it  down  altogether. 

A doctor,  in  whom  you  have  absolute . confidence, 
and  whom  you  deem  authority,  tells  you  your  stom- 
ach is  badly  out  of  order,  but  instead  of  showing 
directly  in  the  stomach,  it  manifests  in  your  nervous 
system,  and  that  later  on  it  will  show  directly  in  the 
stomach  in  the  way  of  pain  and  general  disturbance  ; 
that  you  must  discontinue  eating  at  noon,  and  only 
eat  lightly  in  the  morning,  and  once  again,  say  at  five 
o’clock,  but  if  you  dare  eat  at  noon,  your  stomach  will 
quickly  feel  the  ill  effects  of  it.  Now,  if  this  passes 
judgment  at  your  bar  as  a fact , and  is  enfolded  in 
your  being  as  a law,  if  you  dare  to  eat  at  noon,  you 
will  surely  bring  on  the  condition  described,  or  one 
closely  allied  to  it. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  you  know  the  higher  truth 
that  you  are  Spirit  and  have  power  to  control  the 
body,  and  deny  the  right  of  any  man  to  make  laws 
for  you,  which  are  not  in  accord  with  the  freedom  of 
Spirit,  you  can  eat  when  you  like,  and  snap  your 
fingers  at  all  the  doctors  on  earth,  for  under  this  sort 
of  knowledge  your  stomach  will  get  better  and  better 
the  longer  you  live. 

This  practice  of  admitting  hearsay,  what  you  read, 
and  what  you  are  told,  as  facts , deserves  the  closest 
attention,  therefore  investigate  carefully,  before  you 


24 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


seal  away  in  your  innermost  chambers  any  one's  state- 
ment, or  the  writings  of  any  book.  Ponder  carefully 
the  statements  which  interest  you. 

Put  them  to  the  test  of  Eternal  harmony.  See  if 
they  are  in  accord  with  Divine  Principle,  the  law  of 
the  Father.  If  so,  build  them  into  your  character, 
if  not,  throw  them  out,  and  know  yourself  to  be  free 
from  any  law  of  man’s,  but  subject  only  to  the  law  of 
the  Father. 

In  this  connection  it  may  be  well  to  observe  that 
many  of  the  laws  which  man  has  adopted  as  the  best 
for  his  government,  according  to  the  teaching  of  the 
experience  of  man  during  the  past  centuries,  are  wise 
and  beneficent,  and  seem  to  be  in  accordance  with 
the  intention  of  the  Father.  For  instance,  the  civil 
laws  of  government,  the  man-made  laws  of  mar- 
riage seem,  on  the  whole,  to  be  wise. 

“ They  that  be  whole  need  not  a physician,  but 
they  that  are  sick.”  To  the  healthy  ones  who  read 
this  book  and  therefore  come  under  this  treatment, 
let  it  be  said,  Take  the  mental  medicine  in  large  or 
small  doses  and  spit  it  out  or  swallow  it  just  as 
you  please,  criticise  as  rough  shod  as  suits  your 
pleasure. 

A stupid,  clumsy  intellect  is  always  loud  in  de- 
nouncing that  which  it  does  not  understand. 

The  mark  of  the  wise  man,  the  skilled  and  culti- 
vated intellect,  is  to  hear  patiently,  and,  if  the 
statements  made  are  too  deep  for  immediate  solution, 
ask  time  for  careful  consideration  before  they  are 
accepted  as  facts,  or  rejected  as  untrue. 

If  you  are  so  unfortunately  constituted  as  to  be 


OR  SCIENTIA  VITJE. 


25 


superstitious,  bigoted,  and  therefore  ignorant,  you 
will  very  quickly  discover  that  the  contents  of  this 
book  is  utter  nonsense.  It  will  be  completely  unin- 
telligible to  you  ; for  such  people  are  possessed  only 
of  the  human  intellect  (so  far  as  they  are  conscious 
of),  and  the  facts  relating  to  the  plane  of  forces,  the 
unseen  plane,  as  treated  of  herein,  can  only  be 
recognized  by  the  higher  mind.  The  truths  of  the 
great  unseen  plane  present  only  blank  nothingness  to 
the  lower  mind. 

The  duty  of  the  writer  does  not  include  anxiety  that 
the  healthy  readers  digest  and  assimilate  these  truths. 

‘ ‘ They  that  be  whole  need  not  a physician,  but  they 
that  are  sick.” 

Do  not  understand  from  this  that  only  the  wise  in 
earthly  wisdom  can  grasp  the  healing  truths  of  the 
Father.  The  simple-hearted  person  who  has  been 
softened  and  ripened  by  sickness  and  adversity  until 
hope  is  gone  and  trouble  seems  to  have  crushed, 
is  the  one  who  sees  clearest  and  quickest  when  the 
heart  cries  out  for  help  and  all  earthly  aid  has  proven 
fruitless,  when  the  poor  tottering  child  seems  to  be 
in  total  darkness  and  going  down  to  the  blackness  of 
the  grave  with  no  way  to  turn  for  help  ; in  the  depths 
of  despair  and  in  the  clutch  of  disease  the  human 
intellect  is  ripened  by  the  hot  sun  of  discord. 

Then  come  the  words,  ‘ ‘ God  is  my  Life.  The  only 
power  this  body  has,  Soul  or  Life,  is  the  real  man, 
and  in  him  I live,  move,  and  have  my  being.”  The 
clearer  you  know  this,  the  more  you  take  of  the 
eternal  power  to  drive  'out  weakness  and  evil.  Know- 
ing this  is  the  inspiring  drink  of  the  water  of  Life. 


2 6 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


Treatment.  — Spiritual  Harmony  produces 
an  easy,  perfect  condition  of  harmony  in  all  we  have 
to  deal  with. 

“ But  if  the  Spirit  of  him  that  raised  up  Jesus  from 
the  dead  dwell  in  you,  he  that  raised  up  Christ  from 
the  dead  shall  also  quicken  your  mortal  bodies  by  his 
Spirit  that  dwelleth  in  you.” 

“For  as  many  as  are  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God 
(Life)  they  are  the  Sons  of  God.” 

“The  Spirit  itself  beareth  witness  with  our  Spirit 
that  we  are  the  Children  of  God.” 

“And  if  Children,  then  heirs,  heirs  of  God,  and 
joint  heirs  with  Christ.” 

‘ ‘ And  we  know  that  all  things  work  together  for 
good  to  them  that  love  God.”  Romans  8. 

My  life  is  God,  I love  my  life  and  know  of  my  high 
birthright  as  one  with  the  Father ; knowing  this 
brings  the  power  of  the  great  law,  making  all  things 
to  “work  together  for  good.”  There  is  no  other  real 
power,  and  there  is  no  devil  or  evil  to  fight.  I know 
all  is  good , and  I am  therefore  happy  and  content, 
for  the  “ spirit  quickens.” 

The  many  wonderful  incidents  recorded  in  the 
legends  of  the  Old  Testament,  of  Moses  on  the 
mount  with  God,  of  the  burning  bush,  of  the  sun 
standing  still  for  Joshua,  etc.,  etc.,  must  have  had 
some  basis  of  reality,  or  they  would  not  have  obtained 
the  credence  they  have  commanded  for  many  ages, 
but  there  is  no  fact  in  all  the  universe  more  solidly 
fixed  than  the  fact  that  the  great  universal  Mind, 
supreme  Energy,  God,  never  performs  any  tricks  of 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT.E. 


27 


legerdemain,  and  never  did  and  never  will  do  the 
acts  that  he  is  credited  with  in  such  legends. 

We  must  look  to  some  other  source  for  their  origin, 
and  with  this  object  in  view,  I desire  to  bring  to  the 
reader’s  notice  and  attention  equally  marvelous  things 
that  are  done  in  this  day,  by  people  of  our  present 
age  and  generation. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  people  of  the 
Orient,  for  many  thousand  years,  had  been  given  to 
the  study  of  occult  philosophy,  and  at  the  time  the 
Old  Testament  was  written,  some  of  the  marvelous 
acts  were  known  of,  and  performed  by  children  of  the 
Aryan  race.  I beg  to  quote  from  Dr.  Heinrich 
Hensoldt,  who  has  spent  something  like  ten  years 
in  India  in  archaeological  researches.  His  article 
entitled,  “The  Wonders  of  Hindoo  Magic,”  which 
appeared  in  the  Arena  magazine  of  December, 
1 893,  will  be  read  with  interest  by  many  thoughtful 
persons. 

The  main  facts  are  by  no  means  new,  as  it  has 
been  well  known  for  years  that  the  miracles  worked 
by  the  Hindoo  magicians  were  almost  certainly  of  a 
supernatural  character  as  far  as  the  intelligence  of 
man  could  determine. 

There  are  two  orders  of  priests  or  teachers  in  India, 
known  respectively,  as  Yoghis  and  Rishis.  They  are 
what  might  be  termed  traveling  missionaries,  and  are 
to  an  extent,  hermits,  as  they  live  in  solitary  huts  and 
caverns  in  the  hill  country,  which  they  quit  compara- 
tively seldom,  to  carry  some  mysterious  message  to 
the  outer  world.  These  quiet,  unobtrusive  men,  with 


28 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


their  fine  intelligent  faces  and  foreheads,  which  reflect 
the  wisdom  of  a thousand  years,  go  about,  seeking 
only  to  do  good  and  educate  their  fellow-men  in  the 
peaceful  teachings  of  life  here  and  beyond. 

They  will  not  accept  money  under  any  circum- 
stances. They  perform  their  marvelous  acts,  showing 
great  control  over  material,  and  over  the  intellect  of 
their  audience,  for  the  purpose  of  demonstrating  to 
the  senses  of  ordinary  individuals  that  they  are  operat- 
ing a power  that  is  vastly  greater  than,  and  above  the 
conception  of,  the  ordinary  mortal.  One  of  their  prin- 
cipal feats  is  the  growing  of  the  mango  tree,  and  it 
may  be  concisely  described  as  follows,  although  the 
details  given  in  the  article  mentioned  are  of  para- 
mount interest : — 

The  prophet  dug  a hole  in  the  ground  in  the  center 
of  one  of  the  largest  squares  in  the  city,  while  sur- 
rounded by  three  or  four  hundred  people.  A mango 
is  a tropical  fruit  about  the  size  of  a large  pear,  and 
grows  on  a tree  which  reaches  a height  of  from  forty 
to  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet.  The  hole  dug  by 
the  Yoghi  was  about  six  inches  deep,  in  which  he 
covered  the  mango.  To  quote  the  doctor’s  exact 
words,  ‘ ‘ I expected  to  behold  the  tiny  shoot  of  a 
mango  creeping  slowly  out  of  the  soil,  unfolding  its 
leaves  and  reaching  a height  of  perhaps  six  or  eight 
inches.  Instead  of  this  I was  startled  to  see,  in  the 
air,  above  the  spot  where  the  mango  had  been  buried, 
the  form  of  a large  tree, — at  first  rather  indistinct, 
presenting,  as  it  were,  mere  hazy  outlines ; but  be- 
coming visibly  more  distinct,  until  at  length  there 
stood  as  natural  a tree  as  ever  I had  seen  in  my  life 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT.E. 


29 


— a mango  tree  about  fifty  feet  high,  and  in  full  foli- 
age, with  mangoes  on  it. 

“All  this  happened  within  five  minutes  of  the  bury- 
ing of  the  fruit.  It  may  have  been  three  minutes  till 
I saw  the  tree,  but  as  I had  been  at  first  looking  in- 
tently at  the  spot  where  the  mango  was  planted,  the 
apparition  may  have  been  there  even  sooner.  I was 
so  intensely  surprised  at  what  I beheld  that  I could 
hardly  realize  the  fact  that  I was  not  dreaming. 
There  stood  a tree,  to  all  intents  and  purposes  as 
natural  as  any  tree  could  have  appeared  to  human 
eyes  — a huge  tree,  with  a stem  at  least  two  feet  in 
thickness  at  its  base.  And  yet  there  was  something 
strange  about  this  tree, — something  unearthly,  some- 
thing grewsome.  There  was  a weird  rigidness  about 
it,  not  one  leaf  moving  in  the  breeze  ; it  stood  there 
as  if  carved  out  of  some  hard  solid,  like  the  obelisk  in 
Central  Park.  Another  curious  feature  I noticed  — 
the  leaves  seemed  to  obscure  the  sun’s  rays,  and  yet 
I could  not  detect  a particle  of  shade  ; it  was  a tree 
without  a shadow. 

‘ ‘ But  the  most  amazing  thing  of  all  was  this : 
After  having  gazed  at  it  for  about  two  or  three  min- 
utes, I slowly  approached  it,  wishing  to  make  a closer 
examination  of  the  stem,  and,  if  possible,  to  secure 
some  of  the  leaves.  Now,  in  proportion  as  I drew 
near,  the  tree  seemed  to  lose  its  distinctness  ; its 
outlines  became  blurred  and  faded,  so  that  I had  to 
strain  my  eyes  to  retain  the  impression  of  its  form, 
until,  when  about  ten  yards  from  the  supposed  stem, 
the  apparition  had  completely  vanished.  Only  the 
Yoghi  stood  there,  and  he  smiled  as  he  caught  my 


30 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


eye,  but  his  look  was  such  as  I shall  not  easily  forget. 
And  my  surprise  did  not  end  here,  for  no  sooner  had 
I commenced  retracing  my  steps,  than  the  outlines 
of  the  tree  appeared  once  more,  growing  more  dis- 
tinct with  every  step,  till,  at  last,  when  reaching  the 
spot  where  I had  originally  stood,  it  had  resumed 
the  same  marvelous  reality.  Precisely  the  same 
ching  happened  when,  instead  of  approaching  the 
tree,  I went  further  away  from  it.  It  faded  and 
finally  disappeared  completely  when  I had  about  doub- 
led the  distance  ; then  came  back  again  and  appeared 
as  distinct  as  ever  when  I got  to  my  original  position. 
And  it  was  evident  that  all  the  rest  of  the  on-lookers 
underwent  the  same  experience;  viz.,  each  individ- 
ual saw  the  tree  only  from  the  place  where  he  stood. 
Two  English  officers,  who  happened  to  be  very  close 
to  me,  saw  nothing  at  all,  as  I could  notice  from 
their  remarks  ; they  appeared  to  be  highly  amused, 
and  were  wondering  what  we  were  gazing  at,  but 
they  had  not  witnessed  the  performance  from  the 
commencement. 

“The  mango  tree  had  now  been  in  view  fully  twenty 
minutes,  during  which  a large  concourse  of  people  had 
gathered.  The  Yoghi,  who  until  then,  had  not  opened 
his  lips,  now  placed  a small  mat  of  cocoanut  fibre  on 
the  ground  and  squatted  down  on  it,  Eastern  fashion, 
with  his  legs  crossed,  which  was  at  once  interpreted 
by  the  people  as  a sign  that  he  wanted  to  address 
them.  The  Hindoos  squatted  down  likewise,  and 
most  of  them  came  around  to  the  side  where  they 
could  face  him.  It  was  a beautiful  and  impressive 
sight — this  silent  multitude  of  dark-eyed  Orientals, 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT.E. 


31 


assembled  as  it  were  by  accident,  on  the  great  square 
in  Agra,  listening  to  the  voice  of  the  teacher.  There 
was  a sincerity,  repose,  and  attention  such  as  few,  if 
any,  speakers  would  find  in  a Western  audience. 

‘ ‘ It  was  easy  to  perceive  that  the  listeners  were 
profoundly  impressed  with  the  Yoghi’s  preaching,  and 
as  for  myself,  I had  become  so  absorbed  in  it  that  I 
seemed  to  forget  time  and  space.  I certainly  did  not 
notice  what  afterward  startled  me  more  than  anything  ; 
viz.,  the  disappearance  of  the  tree.  When  the  Yoghi 
had  finished  his  discourse,  the  tree  was  gone  ; it  must 
have  vanished  suddenly,  and  yet  the  precise  moment 
of  its  disappearance  nobody  could  tell.  The  Yoghi 
quietly  arose,  folded  up  his  mat,  then  went  to  the 
spot  where  the  tree  had  stood  and  kneeled  down, 
taking  from  a small  bundle,  which  he  held  under  his 
arm,  a short  stick.  With  this  he  stirred  up  the  earth, 
and  in  a few  moments  brought  out  again  the  fruit 
which  he  had  planted.  I was  very  close  to  him  at  the 
time,  and  he  allowed  me  to  take  it  in  my  hand.  It 
was  an  ordinary  mango,  an  unripe  one  apparently, 
for  it  felt  rather  hard.  I expressed  my  surprise  at  his 
wonderful  powers,  and  complimented  him  on  his  elo- 
quence, but  he  merely  smiled.  I then  offered  him 
two  rupees,  and  tried  to  engage  him  in  conversation, 
but  he  refused  the  present  on  the  ground  that  a Sakhya 
was  -not  in  need  of  money,  and  he  begged  to  be  ex- 
cused, as  he  had  a great  way  to  go.  So  he  walked 
off  rapidly,  and  I saw  him  disappear  among  the  crowd, 
leaving  me  utterly  bewildered  and  more  than  ever 
conscious  of  the  truth  of  that  saying  which  Shake- 
spear  puts  into  the  mouth  of  Hamlet,  that  there  are 


3^ 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


more  things  in  heaven  and  earth  than  are  dreamed  of 
in  our  philosophy.” 

Another  feat  spoken  of,  and  which  is  also  familiar 
to  travelers  in  India,  was  performed  by  one  of  the 
prophets,  after  having  preached  a most  impressive 
sermon.  “He  took  a rope  about  fifteen  feet  long, 
and  perhaps  an  inch  thick,  throwing  one  end  up  into 
the  air  and  retaining  hold  of  the  other  end.  The 
rope,  instead  of  coming  down  again,  remained  sus- 
pended, even  after  the  Yoghi  had  removed  his  other 
hand.  Then  the  Yoghi  seized  it  with  both  hands  and 
climbed  up  this  rope,  suspended  all  the  time  in  defi- 
ance of  gravity,  with  the  lower  end  at  least  five  feet 
from  the  ground,  and  in  proportion  as  he  climbed  up 
it  seemed  as  if  the  rope  was  lengthening  out  indefinitely 
above  him  and  disappearing  beneath  him,  for  he  kept 
on  climbing  until  he  was  fairly  out  of  sight,  and  the 
last  I could  distinguish  was  his  white  turban  and  a 
piece  of  this  never  ending  rope.  Then  my  eyes  could 
endure  the  glare  of  the  sky  no  longer,  and  when  I 
looked  again,  he  was  gone.” 

Another  writer,  in  speaking  of  this  feat  with  the 
rope,  mentions  the  fact  that  when  the  Yoghi  had  sus- 
pended the  rope  in  the  air,  a youth  suddenly  appeared 
by  his  side  who  sprang  up  the  rope  and  began  climb- 
ing away  toward  the  clouds.  The  Yoghi  bade  him 
good-by,  and  extended  his  hand  upward  toward  Jiim. 
The  lad  was  watched  by  the  multitude  until  he  en- 
tirely disappeared  in  the  air  above.  A thoughtful  wit- 
ness of  this  wonderful  scene  felt  that  all  were  under 
an  influence.  No  living  man  could  doubt  the  testi- 
mony of  his  eyesight  any  more  than  Moses  could  doubt 


OR  SCIENTIA  VH\E. 


33 


that  he  saw  God  on  the  mountain,  but  the  next  time 
this  thoughtful  individual  had  an  opportunity  of  wit- 
nessing this  miracle,  he  brought  along  a little  instru- 
ment that  could  not  be  hypnotized,  and  at  the  time 
when  the  whole  audience  were  intent  on  witnessing 
the  departure  of  the  lad  up  the  rope,  and  the  fare- 
well of  the  priest  with  arm  extended,  he  touched  the 
button  of  the  little  photographic  camera  and  then 
waited  until  he  could  see  the  lad  no  longer,  having 
disappeared  as  a faint  speck  in  the  sky.  When  he  de- 
veloped the  plate,  there  was  nothing  about  the  Hindoo 
except  that  he  stood  with  his  arm  extended  skyward. 
Rope  and  lad  were  myths  of  the  human  intellect, 
under  control  of  a more  powerful  force,  and  if  Moses 
had  been  possessed  of  a camera  on  the  mountain  at 
the  time  of  his  celebrated  interview,  the  faithful  little 
recorder  would  have  shown  him  that  no  form  of 
molded  material  existed  there  except  himself. 

But  the  marvelous  power  of  the  intellect  to  mold 
forms  plainly  visible  to  the  eye,  as  in  spiritual  seances, 
is  thus  far  but  little  understood.  They  are,  from  be- 
ginning to  end,  creatures  and  creations  of  the  molder’s 
mentality,  and  when  that  mind  assumes  its  natural 
condition,  all  of  these  illusions  disappear. 

I bring  this  subject  up  that  it  may  gradually  dawn 
upon  the  mind  of  the  reader  that  he  or  she  is  under 
hypnotic  influence  more  or  less  every  day,  often  self- 
induced,  at  other  times  brought  on  by  the  combined 
mental  forces  of  others.  Sickness  of  all  kinds  is  most 
emphatically  an  unnatural,  unreal,  hypnotic  condition, 
which  patients  will  be  rid  of  as  soon  as  they  can  break 
the  spell  that  is  over  them  ; but  in  their  ignorance  they 
3 


34 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


are  like  the  man  who  thoroughly  believes  what  his  eye 
tells  him  about  the  rope  feat  ; that  the  boy  is  there  ; 
the  rope  is  there,  and  he  would  take  his  oath  that 
what  he  sees  is  solid,  substantial  material  and  is  not  a 
creation  of  the  mind  ; just  so  long  as  the  individual 
stands  by  the  testimony  of  his  eyes  in  sickness  and  in 
such  illusive  feats  as  have  been  described,  just  so  long 
will  he  remain  under  hypnotic  influence.  There  is  a 
natural,  normal  condition  of  perfect  health  that  we  all 
dwell  in  continually,  so  far  as  the  real  man  is  con- 
cerned, and  we  can  be  conscious  of  this  state  of 
harmony  whenever  we  come  to  know,  as  an  eternal 
truth,  that  there  is  no  reality  in  any  inharmony,  sin, 
sickness,  or  death. 

Pain  is  a Distorted  Creature  of  the  Human 
Intellect.  — You  say  you  have  a pain  in  your  knee, 
yet  no  one  else  feels  it.  It  you  were  to  dig  after  the 
pain  with  a dissecting-knife,  it  would  be  impossible  to 
find  it,  yet  you  say  you  know  it  is  in  the  knee. 

Suppose  something  rivets  your  entire  attention  for 
a moment  on  some  other  subject, — the  pain  is  im- 
mediately gone  from  the  knee.  The  knee,  and  the 
nerves  of  the  knee  know  nothing  of  the  new  subject 
you  are  interested  in,  therefore  they  cannot  dismiss 
the  pain. 

The  fact  is,  the  pain  exists  wholly  and  entirely  in 
the  intellect,  which  has  admitted  it  as  real,  and  by 
peculiar  and  complex  process,  fixed  it  in  some  point 
in  the  body. 

Pain  is  not  real,  but  is  an  illusion  of  the  human 
senses,  and  the  patient  will  find  that  it  can  be  dis- 
missed by  denying  its  reality. 

Talk  to  it  as  you  would  to  a trespasser  on  your 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT,E. 


35 


property.  ‘ ‘ Get  right  out  of  here,  you  have  no  right 
here.  You  are  nothing.  Body  cannot  complain  ex- 
cept by  my  permission.  Nerves  have  no  sensation  in 
themselves  except  as  they  are  sensitized  by  the  in- 
tellect.” 

It  is  a false  statement  for  the  body  to  send  up  a 
claim  of  pain  or  distress,  and  this  can  be  dismissed 
providing  one  will  stand  fast  in  that  knowledge. 

When  any  ache  or  ail  comes  up  from  body,  get 
right  after  it  with  a sharp  stick.  Hustle  it  out  as 
roughly  as  you  please. 

Set  your  teeth,  if  necessary,  and  affirm  your  right 
to  rule,  and  that  the  body  cannot,  and  shall  not, 
make  laws  of  imaginary  suffering  for  you. 

The  effect  of  this  is  to  so  deaden  the  sensation  that 
the  natural  recuperative  forces  will  go  to  work  and 
heal  whatever  seems  to  be  the  difficulty. 

In  case  one  has  a cut  or  bruise,  the  sensation  of 
pain  can  be  withdrawn  and  kept  away  from  the  in- 
jured part,  if  not  wholly  in  all  cases,  at  least  partially, 
so  that  inflammation  and  swelling  do  not  result, 
but  the  natural  forces  of  the  body  rush  to  the  work  of 
repairing  the  injury. 

It  is  done  quickly,  and  oftentimes  to  the  surprise  of 
the  doubting  patient. 

For  the  sake  of  your  own  well-being,  look  upon 
pain,  distress,  sickness,  sin  and  death  as  unreal  illu- 
sions of  the  human  intellect. 

Do  not  undertake  to  argue  that  they  are  real,  but 
simply  shut  them  out  of  your  world. 

The  world  to  you,  is  made  up  of  what  you  know  of, 
and  admit  as  realities. 

Suppose  that  you  had  never  heard  of  the  city  of 


36 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


San  Francisco.  You  never  saw  it,  and  the  fact  of  its 
existence  was  never  brought  to  your  notice  in  any 
way.  You  would  live  along  your  natural  life,  and  no 
such  thing  as  San  Francisco  would  exist  in  your  world 
either  for  good,  bad,  or  indifferent. 

Now  it  is  not  necessary  to  turn  right  around  and 
argue  that  it  does  exist  anyhow , we  are  discussing 
what  your  world  is  made  up  of.  Suppose  it  were  pos- 
sible for  you  to  thoroughly  eliminate  from  your  mind 
all  pain,  disease,  and  sin. 

Your  world  would  certainly  be  free  from  it,  and  the 
way  to  assist  yourself  is  to  mentally  negate  or  deny  all 
pictures  of  evil  as  fast  as  they  are  forced  upon  your 
mentality. 

Do  not  argue  that  they  are  real , but  argue  that  they 
are  unreal  and  belong  to  the  negative  world. 

Health  is  something  real.  Disease  is  merely  its 
apparent  absence. 

Light  is  something  positive,  real  ; darkness  is  its 
absence,  and  darkness  cannot  be  termed  anything. 

“ Life  is  real,  life  is  earnest.”  It  is  the  great  posi- 
tive element  of  the  universe,  and  it  knows  no  such 
thing  as  death. 

The  very  body  that  you  say  is  dead  is  reduced  to  its 
native  elements  by  means  of  small  manifestations  of 
life  in  the  way  of  germs  and  worms  which  disintegrate 
the  mud  doll  and  return  it  back  where  it  came  from. 

The  master  builder,  man,  having  used  it  as  long  as 
he  should,  according  to  law,  is  then  engaged  with 
some  other  form  of  material. 

Jesus  Christ  said,  “The  first  shall  be  the  last  and 
the  last  shall  be  first.”  When  you  come  to  put  down 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT.E. 


37 


the  body,  which  you  have  considered  yourself,  and 
know  yourself  as  soul,  which  is  your  real  being,  you 
will  have  carried  out  the  law  to  a degree,  and  will 
receive  the  benefit  directly  in  a most  undeniable 
manner. 

“ She  is  such  a dear  Christian  woman,  and 
yet  she  is  sick  all  the  time.” 

There  is  some  mistake  in  this  statement.  The 
burly  prize-fighter,  who  knows  nothing  of  spirit,  but 
who  lives  in  harmony  with  life  as  a healthy  animal, 
more  nearly  manifests  the  will  of  the  Father  than  the 
most  saintly  professing  Christian  who  is  sick  all  the 
time. 

Before  you  assert  yourself  to  be  a Christian  let  us 
apply  the  test  to  see  whether  the  truth  is  told  or  not. 

There  is  one  test  given  by  Jesus  Christ.  “These 
signs  shall  follow  them  that  believe.  They  shall  heal 
the  sick,  cleanse  the  leper,  and  raise  the  dead,”  and  he 
meant  just  what  he  said  ; that  by  the  applying  of  this 
knowledge  that  we  are  spirit,  soul,  now,  and  that  the 
body  has  no  right  to  dictate,  we  can  drive  away  sick- 
ness and  evil. 

When  you  get  this  teaching  thoroughly  enough  in 
your  consciousness  to  firmly  deny  the  claims  of  body, 
and  heal  yourself  and  others  by  that  knowledge,  you 
will  have  the  right  to  claim  the  appellation  of  Chris- 
tian. Until  you  can  do  this,  do  not  claim  it,  for  the 
test  is  like  the  acid  applied  to  false  gold,  and  the  fals- 
ity is  quickly  shown. 

You  have  prided  yourself  in  your  own  goodness. 
Many  people  who  are  said  to  be  of  a retiring  disposi- 
tion, very  modest  and  all  that,  are  so  wrapped  up  in 


38 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


their  own  ideas  of  how  good  they  are,  and  how  modest 
they  are,  and  how  Christlike  they  are,  that  they  have 
built  up  a bodily  image  of  themselves  that  they  bow 
down  to  and  worship. 

Tear  yourself  down.  Get  off  from  the  pedestal 
upon  which  you  have  elevated  yourself.  You  have 
been  trying  to  conduct  yourself  so  that  people  would 
praise  and  give  you  homage.  Break  this  down.  Get 
just  as  flat  and  humble  as  you  can.  Know  yourself  to 
be  simply  a manifestation  of  the  Father,  He  doing  his 
work,  you  being  the  pencil,  then  perhaps  you  will  be 
able  “ to  be , and  not  seem,”  as  Emerson  puts  it. 

Physicians  have  recognized  in  their  practice 
the  marvelous  force  of  mind  over  their  remedies,  but 
have  been  very  slow  to  use  this  force  to  assist  in 
healing. 

Any  medical  practitioner  will  admit  that  in  admin- 
istering certain  remedies  he  will  obtain  nearly  the 
result  desired  for  perhaps  four  or  five  days  ; then  if 
anything  arises  which  breaks  the  faith  of  the  patient 
in  either  the  practitioner  or  in  the  medicine,  from 
that  time  on  the  medicine  is  of  no  more  power  than 
so  much  water,  and  a change  must  be  made. 

It  is  shown  that  medicine  is  endowed  with  power, 
of  varying  degrees,  to  affect  the  physical  structure  of 
the  human  body,  but  that  the  greater  power,  by  far, 
is  the  governor  of  the  human  body,  the  intellect,  so 
let  us  apply  ourselves  to  the  use  of  that  power,  con- 
trolled by  the  higher  mind. 

There  are  two  minds  connected  with  man,  the 
human  intellect  being  the  lower,  and  subject  at  all 
times  to  the  control  and  direction  of  the  higher  mind, 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT.E. 


39 


which  is  the  mind  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  com- 
bined, and  is  the  same  as  is  spoken  of  in  the  New 
Testament  as  “the  mind  of  Christ.” 

A woman  perishing  with  consumption  was 
given  a book  on  mental  healing.  She  read  along  in  it 
until  the  words  roused  the  spirit  to  a knowledge  of 
itself*;  thereupon  she  began  to  deny  the  claims  of 
sickness  and  of  body  and  to  assert  the  right  of  soul 
to  manage. 

Hers  was,  to  mortal  sense,  a desperate  case,  but 
she  began  to  feel  the  need  of  more  food,  and  in  a few 
days  determined  to  get  out  of  bed.  The  attendants 
thought  she  was  losing  her  mind. 

Her  clothes  were  brought  and  she  asked  them  to 
leave  the  room,  as  she  was  going  to  try  to  dress  her- 
self, and  did  not  want  any  help.  She  put  on  one 
article  of  apparel  and  then  dropped  back  on  the  bed 
from  exhaustion,  but  quickly  turning  her  thought  to 
her  birthright,  that  she  had  life,  and  life  was  unlim- 
ited power,  she  felt  the  vivifying  current,  and  got  up 
again  and  went  at  it. 

It  took  her  most  of  the  forenoon  to  get  her  clothes 
on,  but  she  accomplished  it,  and  the  next  day  she 
dressed  easier.  It  was  but  a short  time  until  she  was 
about  the  house,  gradually  getting  better,  and  she 
continued  to  improve  under  the  control  of  the  soul, 
her  true  self,  until  to-day  she  is  a round,  healthy 
woman,  a perfect  specimen  of  the  race. 

The  structural  change  in  the  lungs  and  throughout 
the  body  required  something  more  than  a year  to  be 
brought  into  a normal  state,  and  it  was  almost  a year 
before  the  last  cough  was  heard. 


40 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


This  is  not  an  isolated  case  of  cure  of  consumption 
by  mental  process.  There  are  hundreds  and  thou- 
sands of  them  throughout  the  country  that  can  be  well 
authenticated. 

Know  you  this  and  know  it  well,  that  the  body  is 
built  of  material  according  to  the  general  plan  that 
you  are  holding  mentally,  either  of  harmony  or  dis- 
cord, and  the  lines  of  thinking  may  not  all  show  in  the 
body  for  eight  or  ten  months,  but  you  may  depend 
that  they  will  appear  sometime. 

The  question  of  heredity  is,  to-day,  perhaps 
the  foremost  one  among  naturalists  and  biologists. 

Man’s  body  is  torn  down  and  wholly  dismissed  back 
to  the  earth  every  three  or  four  years,  depending  on 
whether  much  or  little  oxygen  is  consumed. 

As  the  body  is  used  actively,  the  elements  are  con- 
sumed and  new  must  be  built  in  at  a more  rapid  rate. 
There  are  cases  where  the  body  is  not  entirely  dis- 
missed under  seven  years. 

We  are  told  of  cases  of  hereditary  consumption 
that  does  not  appear  in  the  children  until  they  are 
twenty-five  or  thirty  years  old.  We  know  that  their 
bodies  have  been  made  over  new,  perhaps  six  or  eight 
times,  and  yet  it  has  been  the  commonly  accepted 
idea  that  the  germs  of  disease  continue  from  the  old 
body  and  are  carried  over  into  the  new.  This  is  not 
true,  except  as  it  is  held  by  us,  or  for  us  mentally, 
that  we  must  build  our  bodies  with  the  fixed  ideas  of 
hereditary  taint. 

These  hereditary  diseases  are  transmitted  mentally. 

When  the  child  is  born,  it  is  the  thought  of  the 
mother  moulded  into  material. 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT.E. 


4 


It  also  embodies  many  thought  motives  of  the 
father,  and  of  the  ancestors  running  back  sometimes 
hundreds  of  years,  but  these  motives  are  not  wrapped 
up  in  the  mud  of  the  ground  ; they  are  living,  actual 
things  which  exist  on  the  unseen  plane  of  intellect, 
and  for  a better  word  we  term  them  motives. 

The  new-born  child  is  guided  in  his  actions  by 
these  motives,  in  fact,  he  is  simply  a bundle  of 
motives  made  up  of  the  experience  of  his  ancestors 
for  many  generations  back. 

Now,  if  among  these  motives  exists  thav  of  heredi- 
tary disease,  the  little  one  is  affected  by  this  motive. 

When  he  gets  older  and  comes  to  know  of  the  facts 
as  herein  related,  and  that  he  has  power  to  deny  and 
break  off  those  motives  of  hereditary  taint,  he  will 
find  that  he  can  manifest  that  power  and  be  free 
from  the  uncanny  inheritance. 

Fix  this  as  a fact  : hereditary  motives,  either  good 
or  bad,  do  not  exist  in  material,  which  is  but  mud 
and  water. 

They  do  exist  on  the  unseen  plane,  and  we  have 
power  to  arrange  and  control  them  for  our  better- 
ment. 

Treatment. — Statements  of  Truth  repeated  over 
and  over  produce  an  army  of  ideas  for  good,  and  they 
quickly  put  to  rout  any  mass  of  thought  which  is 
holding  the  patient  down. 

Repeat  to  yourself,  not  like  an  automaton  or  pho- 
nograph, but  realize,  feel,  know,  that  what  you  are 
saying  is  eternal  truth. 

“ My  Life  is  one  with  God.” 

God  is  never  ill. 


42 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


I am  therefore  never  sick  in  truth. 

Any  other  appearance  is  a false  picture  shown  to 
the  human  intellect,  and  does  not  affect  our  real 
selves. 

Body  is  nothing  but  an  aggregation  of  the  leavings 
of  some  gases,  and  so  I dismiss  it  altogether  from  my 
mind  during  the  time  I wish  to  dwell  on  the  higher 
plane  ; for  on  the  Soul  plane  there  is  no  body  of  this 
material  ; hence  for  the  purpose  of  dwelling  on  that 
plane  for  a few  moments,  I deny  that  I have  any  body, 
dismiss  it  altogether,  and  let  the  Mind  dwell  upon  the 
thought  of  my  eternal  union  with  God,  Life,  and 
Power.  Having  gained  this  position  of  Power,  I 
now  deny  any  other  power.  All  ideas  of  inharmony, 
disease,  and  sin  are  gone,  and  I am  now  free  to  show 
my  Father’s  perfect  harmony  when  I return  to  my 
earthly  tabernacle. 

That  tabernacle  has  no  laws  of  its  own  building, 
and  the  laws  of  discord  which  man  has  produced  I 
refuse  to  accept  any  longer. 

I am  well , and  am  in  fact  one  with  eternal  life. 

There  is  a world  of  comfort,  content,  and  har- 
mony. You  have  a right  to  live  in  such  a world  if 
you  desire.  It  is  the  real  condition  intended  for  us  by 
the  Father  of  life.  A little  child  runs  about,  is  happy 
and  contented  with  the  little  things  of  the  universe. 

They  live  naturally  in  the  world  of  harmony,  peace, 
and  health. 

If  you  will  deny  the  admittance  of  any  thoughts  of 
evil,  of  sickness,  of  distress  or  sin  to  enter  into  your 
little  world  by  refusing  to  admit  them  as  real,  you  will 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT-ffi. 


43 


find  the  truth  of  that  which  is  spoken  of  by  Jesus 
Christ ; when  asked  where  the  kingdom  of  Heaven  was, 
he  said,  “The  kingdom  of  God  is  within  you.” 

Seek  this  first  and  all  things  shall  be  added  unto 
you.  Can  you  see  how  literally  true  the  statement  is  ? 
But  once  get  yourself  right,  and  in  hook  with  the  great 
Harmony  of  the  universe  so  that  all  things  are,  with 
you,  comfortable,  peaceful,  and  you  are  in  a contented 
frame  of  mind,  at  once  this  condition,  of  itself,  sets  up 
a perfect  circulation  where  it  had  been  abnormal  here- 
tofore. 

With  a perfect  condition  of  the  ^stomach,  followed 
with  all  the  complex  functions  of  digestion  and  assimi- 
lation, a feeling  of  natural  health  begins  to  follow, 
and  with  health  of  body  and  of  mind  comes  the  power 
to  better  your  worldly  condition,  to  make  your  home 
happy  and  those  around  you. 

Put  your  mind  right,  in  harmony  with  the  harmony 
of  the  Father,  and  all  good  will  draw  toward  you  as 
naturally  as  the  particles  of  iron  toward  a magnet. 
Do  not  permit  yourself  to  dwell  in  the  other  world  of 
misery,  woe,  sickness,  etc.  If  they  undertake  to  force 
their  ugly  forms  upon  you,  deny  them,  shut  them  out, 
whip  them  out,  and  stand  fast  for  your  birthright. 

Know  you  this,  that  thoughts  are  things,  absolute 
realities. 

We  have  been  accustomed  to  believe  that  a 
simple  thought  is  a sort  of  thin  gas,  or  something 
even  less,  that  emanates  fror^i  vibrations  of  the  grey 
matter  of  the  brain,  but  as  you  come  to  know  of  the 
plane  of  forces,  which  is  the  kingdom  of  the  real,  you 


44 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION. 


will  know  that  every  idea  produced,  born,  brought 
forth  as  a child  of  your  mentality,  is  something.  It 
lives,  moves,  joins  its  associates  of  the  same  character. 

Now  when  you  want  to  be  depressed,  ridden  down, 
and  wade  in  the  depths  of  hell  itself,  start  your  mind 
to  producing  a train  of  evil  thoughts,  and  see  how 
quickly  the  little  devils  will  accumulate  into  an  army, 
aided  and  abetted  by  outside  fellows  produced  by 
other  minds,  that  will  give  you  all  you  want  to  do,  to 
be  rid  of. 

Your  safeguard  is  to  permit  only  children  of  health 
to  be  born  in  your  mind  — children  of  harmony,  hap- 
piness. These  are  the  stronger  of  the  two,  and  as 
you  produce  them,  you  find  you  are  greatly  helped  by 
the  addition  of  a little  army  of  the  same  sort. 

The  reader  may  not  concur  in  the  statement  that 
thoughts  are  things,  but  as  they  become  skilled  in  the 
higher  facts  of  life  in  this  universe,  and  are  able  to 
grasp  the  laws  of  the  unseen  plane,  even  slightly,  they 
will  be  forced  to  admit  the  statement  to  be  true. 

All  force,  all  potency,  steam,  electricity,  wind,  life, 
mind,  dwells  on  the  unseen  plane,  above  the  plane 
of  dead  effect,  which  is  the  plane  of  material.  There 
is  nothing  the  eye  sees  which  has  any  power,  force, 
or  intelligence.  The  finite  eye  is  made  upon  the 
finite  plane,  and  can  know  of  only  the  beautiful  forms 
moulded  of  dead  material  by  an  unseen  power,  and 
managed  and  moved  by  that  unseen  force. 

A knowledge  of  the  position  which  man 
occupies  in  this  world  can  be  arrived  at  by  an 
understanding  of  the  following  statements : There  are 
three  kingdoms  into  which  the  material  of  the  earth 


OR  SCIENTIA  VITiE. 


45 


is  moulded.  First,  the  inorganic,  or  the  lowest  king- 
dom, earth,  the  minerals,  rocks,  water. 

The  highest  species  of  this  kingdom  is  merged  into 
the  next  higher,  that  of  the  vegetable,  so  deftly  that 
no  human  can  detect  the  line  of  demarkation  between 
the  two. 

Here  we  have  the  various  forms  of  the  vegetable 
kingdom  which  are  used  for  the  purpose,  largely,  of 
producing  the  proper  chemical  changes  in  the  ele- 
ments of  the  earth  to  make  them  edible  for  the  mem- 
bers of  the  animal  kingdom,  and  the  highest  species 
of  the  vegetable  kingdom,  as  the  anemone,  amoeba, 
and  one  or  two  other  specimens  are  so  merged  into 
the  animal  kingdom  that  they  are  pronounced  both 
animal  and  vegetable,  no  line  having  been  discovered v 
where  one  leaves  off  and  the  other  begins. 

We  now  run  along  through  the  animal  kingdom 
rom  one  species  to  another  until  we  reach  the  high- 
est species  of  that  kingdom,  the  animal  man. 

We  find  the  same  laws  exist  here  ; that  he  is  a 
composite  of  the  animal  kingdom  and  of  the  kingdom 
above  it,  which  is  the  kingdom  of  the  unseen,  the 
kingdom  of  force,  of  life,  intelligence,  power. 

Man  is  but  slowly  beginning  to  know  his  higher  self. 

He  has  always  looked  upon  himself  as  body,  and 
with  a possible  soul  sometime,  but  the  facts  are  that 
he  is  a soul  now,  living  right  along  in  eternity,  and 
that  he  unfolds  and  progresses  steadily,  according  to 
the  beautiful  law  of  unfoldment,  or  evolution,  as  laid 
down  by  the  Father. 

On  this  new  plane  of  life  we  find  a new  law,  that 
the  produced  and  the  producer  are  not  separate,  but 


4 6 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


are  one.  A strange  law,  you  will  say,  but  we  are  be- 
ginning to  roam  in  what  would  seem  a strange 
country. 

The  Father  of  all  life,  and  we  as  children,  are  one. 
There  is  no  separateness.  All  Life  is  one. 

At  the  same  time  the  Son  preserves  an  individuality. 

He  lives,  moves,  and  has  his  being  in  the  Father, 
and  yet  is  an  individual. 

He  partakes  of  the  power  of  the  Father  as  he  be- 
comes conscious  of  that  power,  and  that  consciousness 
is  the  most  powerful  healing  potion  that  man  ever 
imbibed. 

It  is  the  draught  from  the  everlasting  Fountain  of 
life,  and  to  such  a one  there  is  no  more  death. 

You  have  no  knowledge  of  even  the  slightest  details 
of  your  birth  except  by  hearsay. 

You  will  have  no  knowledge  of  the  simple  change 
that  you  will  make,  that  man  calls*death.  With  you 
it  is  a consciousness  of  life  eternal. 

You  have  been  dismissing  body  unconsciously,  daily. 

When  in  obedience  to  natural  law  you  dismiss  it  in 
a lump,  you  will  do  so  entirely  unconscious  of  the  act. 
God  arranges  these  things. 

Fear  is  an  element  of  the  devil,  or  one 
evil. — When  you  fear  sickness,  or  any  other  thing, 
it  is  the  result  of  doubt  in  your  mind  of  perfect 
safety. 

You  cannot  be  killed,  you  cannot  lose  your  life. 

It  is  true  it  is  the  duty  of  each  individual  to  pre- 
serve the  form  and  manifestation  of  life,  as  intended 
by  the  Father,  until  that  manifestation  grows  to  what 
you  call  ripe  old  age,  and  drops  off  the  tree  naturally, 
but  you  must  have  no  fear. 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT JE. 


47 


Fear  begets  a disordered  circulation  and  trouble 
or  discord  in  many  parts  of  the  body.  Dismiss  it 
quickly. 

Assert  your  oneness  with  the  Father  of  all  life. 
Jesus,  the  Christ,  spoke  of  Christ  as  the  life,  and  he 
warned  against  the  denial  of  Christ.  If  you  deny  the 
Christ,  the  Christ  will  deny  you.  Have  a care  how 
you  do  this. 

Always  assert  your  oneness  with  Life. 

That  life  is  you  and  your  life,  and  no  harm  can 
come  nigh  you. 

As  your  mind  produces  ideas  as  children, 

so  the  one  Mind,  the  Father  of  us  all,  produces  us  as 
children. 

We  are,  therefore,  each  of  us,  the  divine  idea  of 
the  great  divine  Mind,  and  we  are  perfect,  as  the 
great  Mind  produces  no  imperfection.  As  your  idea 
or  thought  is  one  with  your  mind,  so  we  are  one  with 
our  Father,  the  great  Mind. 

There  is  no  object  you  see  but  what  has  its  primary 
existence  in  mind. 

Look  at  a chair,  and  you  will  readily  understand 
that  every  lineament  and  line  about  it  was  first  pro- 
duced in  the  mind  of  the  maker,  and  the  idea  or 
child  of  his  mind  is  worked  out  in  the  material  so 
that  the  finite  eye  can  see  it,  and  the  finite  body  use 
it,  but  the  original  conception  and  plan  is  entirely 
mental. 

There  is  absolutely  nothing  that  the  eye  rests  upon 
but  what  is  produced  after  this  general  plan  ; oft- 
times  a man  is  so  closely  allied  to  a monkey  that  he 
has  no  logical  line  of  thought  which  would  lead  him 
up  to  this  understanding,  and  he  is  inclined  to  say, 


48 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


“ O,  give  me  the  things  that  are  substantial;  that 
are  something.  I cannot  believe  in  the  thin  gas 
called  mind.” 

When  he  gets  far  enough  away  from  the  animal, 
and  steps  along  in  his  unfoldment,  these  things  will 
slowly  become  plain  to  him,  but  he  is  a dreadfully 
thick-headed  fellow  at  present. 

The  three  elements  necessary  for  the  sustenance  of 
the  body  are  food,  water,  and  air.  Apply  his  own 
reasoning  and  see  how  long  he  would  last.  Food, 
which  he  esteems  to  be  the  great  substance  because 
he  can  see  it,  and  it  feels  hard,  man’s  body  can  get 
along  without  for  about  forty  days.  Water,  which 
is  partly  invisible,  it  must  have  every  few  hours,  but 
air,  which  is  entirely  invisible,  and  unknown  to  the 
eyes  or  any  of  the  physical  senses,  is  the  element 
necessary  for  continual  use.  As  you  withdraw  force 
from  an  element,  you  leave  what  seems  to  us  the 
solid  matter,  but  when  in  the  shape  of  force  they  are 
invisible  to  us. 

Treatment. — When  you  seem  a little  ailing, 
draw  off  to  yourself,  go  into  the  silence,  close  your 
eyes,  relax  all  the  muscles,  breathe  from  the  ab- 
domen rather  slowly.  Now  put  your  mind  into  this 
attitude,  I am  the  perfect  idea  of  the  perfect  Mind, 
God.  The  Father  and  I are  one,  having  power  and 
potency.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  sickness,  pain, 
or  distress.  It  is  an  illusion  of  the  human  intellect. 

The  body  has  no  more  sensation  than  so  much 
dead  clay. 

I am  well,  and  no  harm  shall  come  near  me. 

The  claim  of  body  and  of  human  intellect  to  put 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT.E. 


49 


me  in  discord  is  a lie.  It  has  no  foundation  in  fact. 
It  is  a claim  of  evil. 

I know  of  harmony  in  life,  and  I am  life,  sweet, 
clear,  and  pure,  and  I will  manifest  it  perfectly,  as 
was  intended  by  the  Father. 

If  you  run  this  over  in  deep,  earnest  thought,  and 
know  it  to  be  true — -know  it  right  down  to  the  bot- 
tom of  your  heart,  you  will  feel  a flow  of  eternal 
energy  that  will  vivify  you  from  one  end  to  the  other. 
We  find  that  the  human  dynamo  is  enabled  to  draw 
that  beautiful  current  of  life  from  the  great  field  of 
life  in  much  the  same  way  as  the  ordinary  electric 
dynamo  is  enabled  to  draw  the  current  of  electricity 
from  the  great  field  of  electricity. 

No  one  skilled  in  electricity  will  claim  that  a 
dynamo  makes  electricity.  Electricity  is  all  about  us 
in  what  is  termed  the  great  field,  and  the  dynamo  is 
a method  of  accumulating  and  concentrating  so  that 
the  current  can  be  used. 

Now  man  is  of  a much  higher  order  than  the  cop- 
per, brass,  and  carbon  dynamo  that  handles  the 
electric  current,  and  he  has  the  power  to  concentrate 
and  draw  to  himself  the  powerful  current  of  Life  for 
his  use  and  the  use  of  his  fellows. 

Any  one  can  be  quickly  convinced  of  this  fact  when 
he  sees  the  curative  effect  upon  patients  when  a 
mental  practitioner  is  operating. 

No  drugs  are  given,  but  the  silent  force  current 
passes  through  the  operator  to  the  patient,  and  they 
are  made  conscious  of  its  healing,  vitalizing  effect. 

A common  remark  one  hears  is,  “I  believe 
the  mind  has  considerable  to  do  with  the  body.” 

4 


50 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


This  statement  indicates  the  lack  of  observation 
and  experience  in  mental  control  that  will  come  later 
on.  It  indicates  that  they  are  just  awakening  to  the 
fact  that  mind  has  some  sort  of  power  over  body, 
but  the  direct  and  powerful  effects  are  but  little 
understood. 

Physicians  can  recall  many  cases  where  their  pa- 
tients, when  at  the  point  of  death,  have  risen  up 
with  the  power  of  the  spirit,  and  walked  right  out  of 
their  trouble.  The  power  of  the  spirit  of  the  individ- 
ual is  noticeable  in  times  of  war. 

Many  men  who  are  shot  practically  all  to  pieces, 
pull  through  and  get  well  by  what  is  called  their 
indomitable  will,  which  is  no  more  nor  less  than  the 
demand  of  the  spirit  that  they  have  a right  to  live, 
while  others,  in  whom  the  soul-power  does  not  take 
possession,  will  die  from  faint  scratches  not  ordinarily 
considered  even  a wound. 

A case  is  on  record  of  a young  Hungarian  girl, 
who,  while  under  hypnotic  suggestion,  had  a pair  of 
cold  scissors  laid  on  her  bare  arm,  and  was  told  that 
they  were  red  hot,  and  would  burn  her. 

An  inflamed  and  blistered  spot  appeared,  taking  the 
exact  shape  of  the  scissors,  burned  so  deeply  into  the 
flesh  that  it  took  months  to  heal.  A record  of  the 
case  is  given  by  Dr.  Von  Krafft  in  a small  volume  on 
the  subject. 

Stigmatization  means  the  appearance  of  wounds 
like  those  of  Jesus.  About  ninety  instances  are  on 
record,  of  which  eighteen  are  males  and  seventy-two 
females. 

The  affliction  appeared  in  the  majority  of  cases  in 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT\E.  5 I 

\ 

the  order  of  the  crucifixion,  that  is,  the  first  token 
being  a bloody  sweat,  followed  by  the  imprint  of 
thorns  on  the  head,  afterwards  the  hand  and  foot 
wounds  appear,  showing  the  nail  marks,  the  wound 
on  the  side  being  the  last. 

These  peculiar  brands  on  the  body  appeared  gener- 
ally among  residents  in  religious  houses,  and  take 
place  after  the  austerities  of  Lent,  usually  on  Good 
Friday,  when  the  mind  was  intently  fixed  on  our 
Lord’s  passion.  The  marks  on  the  body  of  Jesus 
were  constantly  before  their  eyes  and  thoughts  at  this 
time,  and  manifested  on  their  own  bodies. 

The  last  case  recorded  is  that  of  Louise  Lateau,  a 
peasant  girl  at  Bois  de  Haine  Hainault,  upon  whom 
the  stigmata  appeared  April  24th,  1868.  In  her  case 
there  was  a periodic  bleeding  of  the  stigmata  every 
Friday. 

This  case  was  carefully  investigated  by  Prof.  Le- 
febvre,  of  Louvain,  a skilled  physician.  Her  biog- 
raphy was  written  by  Lefebvre  and  published  in 
1870. 

Parallel  cases  of  physical  effects  due  to  mental  sug- 
gestion are  well  authenticated.  Beaunis  vouches  for 
blistering  as  produced  by  suggestion  in  the  hypnotic 
state,  and  Bourru  and  Burot  describe  a case,  still  un- 
der observation,  of  bloody  sweat,  and  red  letters 
marked  on  the  arm  by  simple  tracing  with  the  finger. 
We  know  so  little  of  the  trophic  (nourishing)  action 
of  the  higher  nerve  centers  that  we  cannot  say  how 
far  tissue  nutrition  can  be  controlled  in  spots. 

That  the  nerve  centers  have  a direct  influence  on 
local  nutrition  is  in  some  cases  capable  of  experi- 


52 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


mental  demonstration,  and,  in  another  sphere,  the 
many  authenticated  instances  of  connection  between 
maternal  impression  and  congenital  deformity  seem  to 
indicate  that  this  trophic  influence  has  wider  limits 
and  a more  specific  capacity  of  localization  than  at 
first  sight  seems  possible.  There  is  no  known  patho- 
logical condition  in  which  blood  transudation  can  take 
place  through  an  unbroken  skin.1 

Treatment. — That  which  moves  finger,  tongue, 
eye,  or  heart  is  the  unseen  current  Life  or  Mind. 

I am  Mind. 

Mind  is  manager. 

Body  shall  be  servant  and  obey  Mind  promptly  and 
perfectly. 

Who  manages  body  but  myself  ? 

I know  that  the  real  self  is  unseen.  It  is  Mind, 
and  there  is  but  one  Mind  that  is  real  and  eternal, 
that  is  God,  and  I am  part  thereof. 

I can  so  handle  body  (my  servant)  that  it  obeys  the 
dictation. 

There  is  no  evil  except  in  the  perspective  of  the 
shifting  human  intellect.  I weave  into  myself  what  I 
see  and  know,  therefore  I sort  out  evil  and  never  see 
or  know  it. 

1 See  “Encyclopedia  Brittanica,”  article  “Stigmatization.” 


OR  SCIENTIA  VITJE. 


53 


THE  CREED  TO  BE. 

BY  ELLA  WHEELER  WILCOX. 

Our  thoughts  are  moulding  unseen  spheres, 
And  like  a blessing  or  a curse, 

They  thunder  down  the  formless  years 
And  ring  throughout  the  universe. 

We  build  our  future  by  the  shape 
Of  our  desires  and  not  by  acts. 

There  is  no  pathway  of  escape, 

No  priest-made  creed  can  alter  facts. 

Salvation  is  not  begged  or  bought ; 

Too  long  this  selfish  hope  sufficed, 

Too  long  men  reeked  with  lawless  thought 
And  leaned  upon  a tortured  Christ. 

Like  shrivelled  leaves  these  worn-out  creeds 
Are  dropping  from  religion’s  tree  ; 

The  world  begins  to  know  its  needs, 

And  souls  are  crying  to  be  free. — 

Free  from  the  load  of  fear  and  grief, 

Man  fashioned  in  an  ignorant  age 

Free  from  the  ache  of  unbelief 
He  fled  to  in  rebellious  rage. 

No  church  can  bind  him  to  the  things 
That  fed  the  first  crude  souls  evolved, 

But  mounting  up  on  daring  wings, 

He  questions  mysteries  long  unsolved. 

Above  the  chant  of  priests,  above 
The  blatant  tongue  of  braying  Doubt 

He  hears  the  still  small  voice  of  Love, 
Which  sends  its  simple  message  out, 


54 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


And  dearer,  sweeter,  day  by  day 
Its  mandate  echoes  from  the  skies, 

“ Go  roll  the  stone  of  self  away 

And  let  the  Christ  within  thee  rise.” 

God. — The  question  of  what  God  is,  who  he  is, 
and  where  he  is,  is  one  that  is  quite  unsettled  in  the 
minds  of  most  people,  and  it  is  entirely  according  to 
the  higher  law  that  the  human  should  not  be  able 
fully  to  interpret  the  Divine. 

Children  form  a mental  image  of  God  as  a great 
person,  larger  than  any  man,  and  more  or  less  uncer- 
tain in  shape,  but  very  powerful,  living  off  somewhere 
in  the  sky,  and  whom  they  try  to  love,  as  they  are 
instructed,  but  imagination  will  make  him  seem  more 
or  less  of  a giant  that  they  have  to  beware  of,  lest 
they  make  some  little  mistake,  and  he  will  take  out 
his  indignation  on  their  little  bodies. 

This  same  general  concept  is  held  by  all  ignorant  and 
narrow  minds.  This  was  the  mental  image  held  by 
the  crude  men  who  were  just  evolving  from  animals, 
who  wrote  what  they  thought  of  God  and  these  ideas 
form  the  early  part  of  the  Old  Testament.  This  child- 
like idea  is  outgrown  as  the  intellect  of  man  becomes 
cultivated  and  skillful,  so  that  he  can  grasp  a knowl- 
edge of  the  higher  laws  that  exist,  but  do  not  exist  to 
the  ignorant,  because  they  are  not  capable  of  under- 
standing them. 

To  a cultivated  Intellect,  the  idea  of  Supreme 
Energy  wrapping  itself  up  in  mud  and  making  a clay 
doll,  so  as  to  appear  to  Moses,  when  he  was  mesmer- 
ized on  the  mountain,  is  of  too  ridiculous  a nature  to 
receive  a moment’s  consideration,  but,  when  one  is  in 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT^E. 


55 


a mesmeric  state,  such  as  all  people  are  in  who  see 
visions  and  wonders,  they  see  things  just  as  plainly  as 
if  they  were  in  their  normal  condition,  and  would  take 
their  oath  as  to  the  accuracy  of  the  occurrences. 
Many  of  them  would  even  die  for  the  truth,  as  they 
know  it  to  be,  but  they  are  simply  illusions  of  the  hu- 
man intellect,  just  the  same  as  the  sawdust  is  to  the 
mesmerized  individual,  who  would  take  his  oath  he 
was  eating  the  most  delicious  ice  cream. 

The  average  educated  man  of  the  day,  with  a clean- 
cut,  analytical  mind,  has  solved  the  God  problem  to 
his  own  satisfaction  much  after  the  following  plan  : 
“Well,  I am  told  in  the  Bible,  in  one  place,  that 
‘ God  is  too  pure  to  behold  iniquity,’  in  another  place, 
that  ‘ God  is  a jealous  God,  visiting  the  sins  of  the 
fathers  upon  the  children  unto  the  third  and  fourth 
generation.  ’ In  one  place  God  is  pictured  as  a war- 
rior, with  hot  breath,  hunting  down  and  annihilating 
one  tribe  in  favor  of  another.  In  another  place  he  is 
spoken  of  as  the  loving  Father  of  all  his  creatures. 
It  is  plain  enough  from  the  ten  thousand  contrary 
statements  that  there  is  a lie  out  sowewhere,  so  I 
judge  that  the  old  fellows  who  wrote  about  him,  per- 
haps did  not  know  as  much  as  they  supposed  they 
did.  Now  I know  this  within  myself,  without  any 
instruction  from  Moses  or  David,  or  preachers  or 
teachers  of  the  present  day,  I know  that  I have  a 
something  invisible,  but  all-powerful,  within  me,  and 
that  something  has  a source.  It  comes  from  some- 
where, some  wonderful  supreme  energy.  Divine 
power  produces  it,  and  has  fixed  things  beautifully 
for  me,  if  I will  but  run  my  lines  parallel  with  the 


56 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


lines  of  universal  law.  I feel,  therefore,  that  this 
eternal  energy  which  produced  me  without  my  voli- 
tion, and  without  one  chance  on  my  part  to  accept  or 
reject  the  proposition,  will  care  for  me  most  perfectly, 
and  I can  trust  this  Divine  Potency  with  the  simplest 
and  most  childlike  trust,  knowing  that  all  is  well,  and 
that  all  ivill  be  well  eternally  ; therefore,  I will  pur- 
sue the  even  tenor  of  my  way,  doing  what  seems  to 
me  right,  and  when  the  time  comes  for  me  to  die,  I 
will  resign  myself  unto  the  keeping  of  my  Father, 
whoever  and  wherever  He  may  be.” 

This  is  a philosophical  and  sensible  conclusion  for 
man  to  come  to.  Get  your  head  up  above  the  drift- 
wood of  creeds,  dogmas,  and  orthodox  statements  that 
God  is  this,  and  God  is  that,  and  he  will  do  this,  and 
he  will  do  that. 

An  unnatural  idea  of  God,  mixed  up  with  a 
constant  fear  that  you  are  going  to  displease  him,  is 
the  foundation  of  many  hundreds  of  cases  of  sickness 
and  invalidism.  Now  let  us  get  up  out  of  the  lower 
strata  of  imagery  of  the  human  intellect ; of  the  tales 
told  by  man,  and  see  if  we  can  get  even  a little  real 
view  of  the  Father  of  us  all. 

We  are  the  product  of  Life,  the  one  universal,  ever 
present,  never  beginning  and  never  ending,  eternal 
energy  called  Life.  We  are  the  child  of  Life.  Life 
is  our  producer  and  our  father.  It  is  dearer  to  us 
than  all  else.  We  love  It,  and  It  loves  us  with  a 
depth  and  warmth  unknown  from  our  side. 

It  is  not  separate  from  us,  and  we  do  not  exist 
separate  from  It.  We  are  Life  and  Life  is  us,  and 
there  is  no  such  thing  as  existence  apart  from  it. 


OR  SCIENTIA  VITJE. 


57 


It  is  Life  which  takes  hold  upon  the  clay  and  water 
of  the  material  universe,  and  moulds  it  into  the  million 
and  one  different  shapes  of  grass,  trees,  leaves,  flow- 
ers, animals,  and  the  human  body  of  man. 

Now  let  us  realize  what  is  the  thing  above  or  su- 
perior to  these  shaped  creations.  Is  it  not  mind,  and 
are  not  mind  and  life  identical  ? 

We  do  not  mean  by  mind,  in  this  connection,  the 
intellect  of  the  animal  man,  but  we  mean  the  deeper, 
higher  Mind,  which  controls  the  intellect. 

This  is  God , and  it  is  the  fountain-head  of  all  love, 
the  warm,  tender  charity  and  love  that  is  the  power 
which  moves  the  world.  It  is  the  fountain-head  of  all 
that  is  good  — of  all  harmony,  music,  power,  life. 
This  is  God , and  of  this  we  are  part,  knit  into,  linked 
with,  merged  into  in  such  a way  that  there  is  no  such 
thing  as  separateness. 

Therefore,  God  is  with  us  continually.  “In  him 
we  live,  move,  and  have  our  being.”  There  is  no 
such  thing  as  a personal  image  of  God  located  way  off 
somewhere  in  the  sky.  That  is  simply  the  product  of 
ignorant,  superstitious,  human  intellect. 

We  are  not  required  to  go  upon  our  knees  and  peti- 
tion the  real  God,  divine  Love  or  Principle,  which  is 
ourselves,  to  help  us  to  this,  and  preserve  us  from 
that,  and  bless  us  in  the  other  thing.  This  is  vain 
repetition,  which  Jesus  Christ  warned  his  hearers 
against.  We  have  all  these  things  now. 

The  true  prayer  “ without  ceasing  ” is  to  aspire 
continually  to  live  a life  of  harmony  with  the  beautiful 
law  of  the  Father,  and  thereby  express  the  love  and 
peace  of  the  universal  law,  by  a perfect  body,  a per- 


5» 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


feet  intellect,  and  a perfect  higher  mind  — the  grand 
trinity  — the  new  man. 

Jesus  Christ  wisely  said,  “And  when  thou  prayest 
thou  shalt  not  be  as  the  hypocrites  are,  but  when  thou 
prayest,  enter  into  thy  closet,  and  when  thou  hast 
shut  thy  door,  pray  to  thy  Father,  which  is  in  secret, 
and  thy  Father  which  seeth  in  secret  shall  reward 
thee  openly.” 

This  means,  when  you  pray,  draw  into  yourself. 
That  is  your  closet.  Close  the  door  of  your  mind 
against  all  things  material,  which  are  mud  and  water, 
and  are  not  to  be  allowed  on  the  plane  of  spirit,  then 
pray  to  thy  Father  in  secret,  that  is,  put  your  mind 
on  the  fact  of  your  oneness  with  Life,  and  therefore 
your  power,  and  the  further  fact  that  all  things  are 
given  for  your  use,  and  that  you  have  the  right  — 
the  divine  birthright  — to  manifest  perfect  harmony 
throughout  mind  and  body,  and  your  Father,  with 
whom  you  are  consciously  dwelling,  will  reward  you 
openly,  that  is,  by  making  his  beautiful  law  manifest 
in  your  body,  which  is  the  only  “open  ” way  to  the 
finite  eyes  of  the  world. 

This  is  pure  communion  with  the  Father,  and  the 
benefits  to  be  derived  are  so  great  and  so  certain  as  to 
prove  the  truthfulness  of  the  statement.  Let  there 
be  no  mawkishness,  or  hypocrisy,  or  nonsense,  but 
this  little,  simple,  easy  way  commends  itself  to  any 
man,  and  the  more  sturdy  and  powerful  he  may  be 
intellectually,  the  more  perfect  does  it  appear  to  his 
good,  native  manliness  and  common  sense. 

Away  with  all  your  religious  creeds.  Kick  them 
out.  They  are  a lot  of  rubbish  from  one  end  to  the 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT.E. 


59 


other,  and  all  the  tales  of  predestination,  vicarious 
atonement,  foreordination,  and  all  the  rest  of  that 
most  infernal  lot  of  nonsense  that  man’s  mind  has 
been  filled  with.  Sweep  them  out  of  the  house,  and 
give  your  spirit  room  for  a breath  from  God,  and 
good,  plain,  substantial  mental  food  from  this  time 
on. 

Are  you  man  enough  to  do  it  ? Rise  up  in  your 
might  and  do  this  thing.  You  will  feel  a flow  of  free- 
dom, of  exhilaration  that  comes  from  the  glad  cry  of 
a long  imprisoned,  but  now  free  soul. 

If  you  have  been  one  of  those  who  have  prayed 
earnestly  and  daily  to  God  for  relief  from  your  phys- 
ical ails,  or  for  other  blessings  that  you  felt  justified 
in  asking  a father  for,  and  have  never  been  conscious 
of  any  answer  to  your  prayer,  you  may  be  satisfied 
now  that  you  have  addressed  your  supplications  to  a 
mere  nothing  — a myth. 

It  makes  no  difference  how  dear  you  have  held  this 
image,  it  is  nothing  but  a mental  image  constructed 
out  of  your  own  intellect,  therefore  you  can  get  noth- 
ing from  it,  and  your  time  is  spent  in  vain. 

You  can,  however,  dismiss  that  idol  and  know  the 
true  God,  divine  Principle,  Energy,  Life,  existing 
upon  a plane  where  no  creations  of  the  poor  material 
of  this  planet  are  needed  or  required.  Put  your  mind 
one  with  that  Father,  knowing  your  right  to  manifest 
the  harmony  of  that  plane,  and  that  you  are  one  with 
Life  and  have  the  power  of  Life , with  a steady  denial 
of  the  power  of  body  over  spirit,  and  you  will  get  an 
inflowing  of  divine  strength,  love,  and  peace  that  is 
sufficient  proof  that  you  have  been  dwelling  with  the 


6o 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


real  Father,  and  have  finally  dismissed  the  counterfeit 
that  has  so  long  been  uppermost  in  your  mind. 

Take  no  one’s  assertion  for  truth,  but  get  your  truth 
within  yourself,  directly  from  the  fountain-head  of  all 
truth  and  health,  the  uncreated  God. 

The  Holy  Bible. — We  hear  of  the  “Holy  Ro- 
man Catholic  Church,”  the  “Holy  Church  of  St. 
Peter,”  the  “ Holy  Shin-bone  of  St.  Anthony,”  and 
many  other  “holy”  things.  Whence  comes  the  au- 
thority for  their  being  called  “ holy  ” ? 

God  never  said  they  were  holy,  and  man’s  authority 
to  so  proclaim  them  is  certainly  open  to  question. 

If  the  reader  is  one  of  the  weak-minded  sort,  who 
has  been  evolved  but  a short  distance  from  his  mon- 
key-like ancestors,  and  is  afraid  to  stand  out  in  God’s 
clear  sunlight  and  hear  facts  stated,  he  would  better 
not  read  this  chapter.  If  he  is  one  of  those  driveling, 
weak-minded  objects  of  pity  who  do  not  like  to  hear 
the  truth,  plain  and  unvarnished,  because  it  hurts  his 
feelings,  and  there  are  some  pet  theories  that  he  is 
afraid  to  hear  anything  against,  for  fear  that  which  is 
said  may  be  mighty  in  the  truth  and  tear  down  the 
pasteboard  houses,  let  him  skip  this  chapter,  for  it  is 
written  for  the  clear-minded  man  or  woman  who  is 
Godlike  enough  to  stand  out  and  hear  and  accept  the 
truth  from  whatever  source  it  may  come. 

All  others  would  better  stand  to  one  side,  for  there 
is  meat  in  the  chapter  solid  enough  to  give  them  a 
tremendous  case  of  mental  dyspepsia.  Let  that  sort 
wait  until  the  undeviating,  steady  tread  of  God’s  eter- 
nal evolution  slowly  opens  and  unfolds  them  from 
the  animal  intellect  into  the  wisdom  of  the  God  man. 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT^E. 


6l 


The  Bible  is  in  places  divinely  inspired,  for  wher- 
ever you  find  good,  you  may  depend  that  it  proceeds 
from  but  one  source,  the  fountain-head  of  all  good, 
or  God. 

The  Bible  is  not  inspired  by  God,  in  all  of  its  parts. 
Divine  Wisdom,  the  Principle  of  all  life,  knows  noth- 
ing of  evil,  never  did  and  never  will.  The  Godhead  of 
all  love  never  instructed  man  to  write  the  tales  of  blood- 
shed, woe,  hate,  misery,  and  disease ; nor  did  God 
ever  inspire  his  self-styled  son,  David,  to  write  the 
one  hundred  and  ninth  Psalm,  or  anything  like  it, 
wherein  he  prays  that  his  enemy’s  prayers  may  be 
turned  to  sin,  and  his  innocent  children  condemned 
to  eternal  woe.  Weak,  ignorant  man  may  have  said 
that  God  inspired  him  to  write  this,  but  he  was  either 
mesmerized  or  a tremendous  liar,  you  can  take  your 
choice  of  the  two. 

6 Set  thou  a wicked  man  over  him  ; and  let  Satan  stand  at 
his  right  hand. 

7 When  he  shall  be  judged,  let  him  be  condemned;  and 
let  his  prayer  become  sin. 

8 Let  his  days  be  few ; and  let  another  take  his  office. 

9 Let  his  children  be  fatherless,  and  his  wife  a widow. 

10  Let  his  children  be  continually  vagabonds,  and  beg;  let 
them  seek  their  bread,  also  out  of  their  desolate  places. 

11  Let  the  extortioner  catch  all  that  he  hath;  and  let  the 
strangers  spoil  his  labor. 

12  Let  there  be  none  to  extend  mercy  unto  him  : neither  let 
there  be  any  to  favor  his  fatherless  children.  Ps.  109  : 6-12. 


62 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


It  almost  makes  the  heart  sick  to  know  that  there 
are,  even  at  this  day,  thousands  of  well-meaning,  thick- 
headed animals  who  will  vehemently  assert  that  the 
eternal  God  and  Father  of  Life  wrote  the  preceding. 

The  tender  teaching  of  the  lowly  Nazarene  of  the 
brotherhood  of  us  all,  and  our  eternal  and  lasting  son- 
ship,  will  slowly  come  to  be  understood  ; when  that 
time  comes  the  Father  will  not  stand  charged  with 
such  utterances  of  human  hate. 

The  lily  grows  up  and  out  of  the  mud  and  slime 
until  safe  beyond  reach  of  the  blackening  touch  of  its 
former  bed,  then  its  pure  white  face  is  opened  to  the 
blue  above,  and  the  dewdrop  makes  it  smile  and 
whisper  to  us,  “I  am  but  a dimple  in  the  happy  face 
of  our  Father,  who  knows  no  hate  or  evil.” 

We  find,  upon  investigation,  that  the  early 
man  existed  simply  as  an  animal,  wandering  among 
the  animals,  and  who,  with  them,  lived  in  caverns 
and  caves,  and  was  covered  with  a natural  coat  of 
hair.  Man  existed  in  this  sort  of  way  for  perhaps 
twenty  thousand  years,  possibly  very  much  longer. 

Gradually,  and  in  conformity  with  the  never  ceas- 
ing law  of  unfoldment,  or  evolution,  man  slowly  pro- 
gressed until  his  intellect  began  to  question  how  he 
came  here,  what  all  these  beautiful  surroundings  are 
for,  and  in  answer  to  his  own  questioning,  he  realized 
that  there  was  some  power  higher  and  greater  than 
himself. 

This  power  he  named  Good,  for  it  seemed  that  it 
provided  all  things  good  for  his  needs.  This  word 
has  gradually  been  changed,  by  the  broad  Anglo- 
Saxon  tongue,  into  the  word  God. 


OR  SCIENTIA  WTM. 


63 


As  man  progressed  slowly,  he  originated  legends 
and  stories,  which  were  told  to  his  children,  and 
these  were  told  again  to  their  children  down  through 
many,  many  generations,  until  their  legends,  espe- 
cially a few  pertaining  to  Good,  or  God,  and  the 
legend  of  creation  as  given  in  Genesis,  became  fixed, 
tribal  facts. 

After  this  time,  man  began  to  express  his  thoughts 
by  hieroglyphics  scratched  upon  tablets  of  stone,  or 
upon  the  bark  of  trees,  and  a little  farther  along  we 
find  that  there  was  an  accumulation  made  of  some 
of  these  ancient  writings.  Later  came  Ezra,  the 
prophet  and  scribe,  who  made  it  a business  to  as- 
semble, so  far  as  was  possible,  all  of  the  ancient 
writings  of  the  Jews  and  of  the  principal  legends  of 
the  tribes. 

These  were  put  together  in  as  good  shape  as  was 
possible  at  that  early  day,  and  the  most  of  the  writings 
were  ascribed  to  Moses.  This  was  the  beginning 
of  the  Old  Testament ; and  the  whole  Bible,  as 
we  now  know  it,  was  originally  a mass  of  separate 
books  that  were  finally  arranged  much  as  we  would  put 
them  together  in  a library,  and  up  to  about  two  hun- 
dred years  ago  this  library  contained  some  very  well 
written  books,  by  Solomon  and  others,  that  were 
thrown  out  by  a committee  of  men,  leaving  the  Bible 
bound,  as  we  now  know  it,  the  product  of  man  from 
one  end  to  the  other. 

Divine  Energy,  the  uncreated  God,  the  Life  of  the 
universe,  never  had  anything  more  to  do  with  the 
making  of  the  Bible  than  it  had  to  do  with  the  mak- 
ing of  any  other  book.  Wherever  the  writers  of  the 


6 4 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


Bible  give  utterance  to  good,  inspiring,  lofty  thoughts, 
such  are  inspired  by  the  Father  of  all  love  and 
strength. 

Now  look  at  the  Bible  cleanly,  clearly,  just  as  it  is, 
and  you  will  find  many  beautiful  things  in  it,  and  will 
be  able  to  clear  your  spirit  of  the  fear  that  some  of  the 
old  writers  would  spread  over  you.  If  you  have 
held  the  Bible  as  a fetich,  as  a charm,  as  some- 
thing supernatural,  the  sooner  you  rid  yourself  of  all 
such  superstition,  the  sooner  you  clean  yourself  of  the 
debris  that  holds  you  down. 

You  may  argue  that  God  did  many  wonderful  things 
to  show  himself  to  the  ancients.  These  tales  simply 
illustrate  the  complex,  wonderful  thing,  called  the 
human  mind,  that  can  make  many,  many  things  ap- 
pear real  that  have  absolutely  no  foundation  of  fact. 
According  to  the  tales  of  the  old  writers,  the  sun  stood 
still  for  Joshua,  and  when  a great  king,  called  God, 
waved  his  wand  and  produced  this  earth,  according  to 
the  idea  of  the  writers,  he  hung  up  a few  stars,  and  a 
sun  and  moon,  in  lieu  of  good-sized  lanterns,  to  light 
up  this  wonderful  earth,  whereas,  the  facts  are,  with- 
out regard  to  the  supposition  of  the  ancient  writers, 
that  this  little  planet  called  earth  can  hardly  be  called 
the  faintest  fly-speck  on  a ceiling  too  mammoth  for 
human  comprehension.  It  is  but  one  of  the  little 
drops  of  a grand  whole,  and  not  the  principal  feature 
of  the  universe,  as  a cow,  or  a monkey,  or  an  animal 
man  would  naturally  think  it  to  be. 

It  is  now  a well-known  fact  that  5000  years  before 
the  Hebrew  Bible  was  written,  and  while  the  ancient 
Hebrews  were  common  animals,  the  Aryan  race  was 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT M. 


65 


living  in  a high  state  of  cultivation  and  culture.  Once 
realize  in  your  mind  who,  and  what  God  is,  and  it 
clears  you  at  once  and  forever  of  any  foolish  belief 
that  the  great  principle  of  Life,  Energy,  the  life  of 
the  entire  universe,  would  ever  find  it  necessary  to 
clothe  himself  or  itself  in  mud  and  water  (flesh),  and 
stand  on  a particular  mountain  telling  people  to  take 
off  their  shoes  because  he  was  there.  Moses  was  mes- 
merized, and  simply  saw  the  picturing  of  his  own  in- 
tellect just  as  the  audience  see  the  fifty-foot  trees  of 
the  Hindoo  magicians  grow  in  three  or  four  minutes. 

The  Principle  of  all  love  performs  no  acrobatic 
feats  or  spectacular  shows  of  this  sort  ; contrary  asser- 
tions of  all  the  men  on  this  planet  notwithstanding. 
Those  who  believe  such  inane  nonsense  as  this,  know 
absolutely  nothing  of  the  true  God,  and  they  must 
bide  their  time  until  eternal  Principle  unfolds  them 
into  the  higher  understanding. 

Do  not  attempt  to  crack  an  egg-shell  before  the 
chicken  within  cracks  it  himself.  The  eternal  law 
of  evolution  is  at  work  wisely,  perfectly.  Let  not  the 
apprentice  undertake  to  hurry  the  job.  If  you  are 
the  chicken  within  the  egg-shell,  and  have  not  yet 
consumed  the  amount  of  material  necessary  for  your 
growth  in  that  condition,  stay  right  where  you  are 
until  divine  Principle,  God,  unfolds  you.  The  time 
will  come  when  the  spirit  will  beat  the  bars  for  more 
air  and  purer  draughts.  Then  your  time  will  come  to 
step  out  onto  a higher  plane. 

The  Sanskrit,  and  many  of  the  writings  of  the  an- 
cient Aryan  race,  are  much  older  than  the  Bible,  and 
the  beautiful  God-inspiring  thoughts  expressed  in 
5 


66 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


them  come  just  as  surely  from  the  source  of  all  divine 
inspiration  as  the  good  thoughts  contained  in  any 
other  book. 

Buddha,  Mahomet,  Confucius,  Moses,  David, 
Jesus  Christ,  and  all  other  teachers  of  the  higher  life 
were  manifestations  of  the  higher  and  purer  thought, 
climaxed. 

This  is  also  true  of  our  later-day  teachers,  whose 
names  are  now  almost  legion. 

The  later-day  ones  are  even  more  divinely  inspired 
than  some  of  the  ancients,  because  they  are  endowed 
with  the  refined  and  advanced  thought  forces  of  a 
period  ripe  with  the  progress  and  experience  of  evo- 
lution. 

Speaking  of  “ signs  and  wonders,”  which  are 
recorded  in  the  Bible,  a couple  of  illustrations  may 
give  the  reader  some  idea  of  how  these  things  come 
about. 

A woman  explained  to  the  writer  that  formerly  she 
was  not  a believer  in  religion,  but  that  she  became 
interested  in  some  meetings  held  by  the  Seventh-day 
Adventists,  and  attended  perhaps  four  or  five,  when 
one  night,  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  God  appeared 
to  her  in  shining  garments  and  told  her  that  the  entire 
Bible  was  inspired  by  him,  and  that  every  word  in  it 
was  true,  that  she  must  believe  it  and  join  the  Seventh- 
day  Adventists  ; also,  that  they  were  the  chosen  peo- 
ple of  God,  and  were  the  only  ones  who  would  be 
saved. 

She  was  wide  awake  and  knew  that  God  appeared 
in  person.  She  was  in  an  ecstatic  state  of  happiness, 
and  felt  that  she  was  redeemed. 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT M. 


67 


The  writer  told  her  that  as  long  as  she  had  had  this 
experience,  she  might  as  well  dismiss  her  rheumatism  ; 
that  a rheumatic  body  did  not  manifest  the  will  of  the 
Father,  and  that  she  must  deny  the  right  of  the  rheu- 
matism to  be  about  her,  as  it  was  simply  a manifesta- 
tion of  evil. 

She  followed  the  advice,  and  was  quickly  and  per- 
manently cured. 

Not  long  after,  another  lady  explained  that  after 
attending  several  meetings  at  an  Episcopal  church  she 
had  a visitation  from  God,  in  shining  raiments,  and  he 
explained  to  her  that  she  must  join  the  Episcopal 
Church , as  they  were  the  chosen  people,  and  that  was 
the  only  way  for  her  to  be  saved. 

She  was  just  as  sure  that  she  had  seen  God  as 
the  other  woman,  and  they  were  both  just  as  sure  as 
Moses  was,  and  they  did  see  God  just  as  much  as 
Moses  did  ; but  to  any  student  of  psychology  it  is  a 
self-evident  fact  that  the  combined  thought  forces, 
into  the  current  of  which  these  people  had  been 
drawn,  seemed  to  climax  upon  them,  and  so  impress 
their  human  intellect  that  they  became  to  a degree 
mesmerized  and  saw  these  illusions  as  realities. 

Sickness  and  disease  are  induced  very  largely  in  the 
same  manner  and  are  just  as  much  of  an  illusion  as 
these  mesmerized  pictures  heretofore  spoken  of. 

When  man  is  sick,  he  is  away  from  and  apart  from 
his  natural,  normal  condition.  He  is  in  an  entirely 
unnatural  state,  and  the  more  he  looks  upon  it  as  an 
illusion  and  an  unreality,  the  quicker  he  will  be  rid  of 
the  trouble;  but  let  him  continue  to  argue  to  himself 
that  it  is  all  real,  and  that  a man  who  tells  him  it  is 


68 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


unreal  is  a fool,  he  is  liable  to  stick  right  where  he  is 
for  a much  longer  time  than  is  altogether  pleasant  for 
him,  while  his  neighbor,  who  looks  upon  such  a 
condition  as  an  unreality , will  get  out  of  it  in  short 
order. 

You  do  not  believe  this  statement  ? Try  it,  not 
like  a vacillating  calf,  but  with  the  magnificent  power 
and  energy  of  your  divine  selfhood,  assert  your  right 
to  be  natural  and  normal,  without  any  regard  what- 
ever to  what  the  body  claims,  and  you  will  see  the 
effect  of  force,  healthful  energy  and  harmony  mani- 
fested in  your  body,  if  you  will  handle  yourself  in  line 
with  the  power  of  the  Father  that  is  with  you. 

The  Guidance  of  Divine  Principle,  Life. — 
As  the  higher  mind  of  man  comes  into  a knowledge  of, 
and  dwells,  with  the  one  universal  Mind,  the  Over- 
soul, the  great  Life,  the  Father  of  us  all,  at  that  time 
the  individual,  as  he  follows  the  work  and  manifesta- 
tions of  the  divine  mind,  takes  upon  himself  the  po- 
tency, strength,  and  health  of  the  higher  mind. 

So  sure  as  this  is  a truth,  it  is  also  a truth  that  the 
person  who  is  conscious  of  his  oneness  with  the  Supreme 
Source  of  all  strength,  Power,  Life,  at  once  passes 
into  that  plane  where  the  Father  dwells,  and  the  Son 
becomes  clothed  with,  or  merged  into,  power,  or  Life 
which  is  not  subject  to  accident  or  hurt  from  the  laws 
of  the  material  plane.  Such  a one  is  protected  and 
guarded  at  every  point  by  the  invisible  guidance  and 
protection  of  the  only  power  there  is,  which  we  are  one 
with,  and  which  has  created  no  machinery  for  its  own 
hurt.  This  law  is,  but  dimly  seen  by  many,  but  it 
has  been  recognized  by  writers  in  the  Old  and  the  New 


OR  SCIENTIA  VITJE.  69 

Testament  as  well  as  many  other  writings,  ancient 
and  modern.  | 

There  is  a delicate  tracery,  but  it  is  the  tracing  of 
law  of  the  profoundest  sort. 

In  this  connection  it  must  be  understood  that  the 
proper  condition  for  the  individual  to  be  in  is  that  of 
perfect  trust  in  the  care  of  the  Father,  so  that  all 
things  that  occur,  work  together  for  good,  as  spoken 
of  by  a writer  in  the  Scriptures.  To  sum  up:  A be- 
ing who  is  in  conscious  connection  mentally  with  the 
Father,  and  who  dismisses  all  care  regarding  change 
of  environment  in  body,  is  protected  at  every  point, 
and  is  blessed  with  power,  strength,  health,  harmony, 
safety,  and  peace.  This  is  a law  as  unchangeable 
as  any  law,  and  can  be  read  aright  by  any  one  who 
has  unfolded  far  enough. 

Loss  of  God. — It  has  been  urged  by  a few  people 
who  were  in  the  process  of  unfoldment,  that  when 
they  lost  their  mental  image  of  a created,  formed, 
and  individual  God,  which  was  really  no  God  at  all, 
they  lost  the  sense  of  Fatherhood  and  security,  and 
felt  that  they  were  without  anything  in  its  place 
except  what  they  chose  to  term  “a  cold  principle.” 
But  look  sharp  right  here. 

The  Principle  of  life,  the  unseen  Power  of  the  uni- 
verse, that  which  man  has  just  come  to  know  slightly 
of,  is  the  center  and  Godhead  of  all  love , of  all  truth , 
of  all  health , harmony , peace , and  all  that  is  good , 
these  positive  principles  can  emanate  from  no  other 
source,  and  you  have,  therefore,  a more  watchful  and 
loving  Father  than  ever  could-have  existed  in  the  old 
imaginary  one.  * 


7 o 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


The  ultimate  object  of  all  the  great  machinery  of 
life,  and  its  manifestations  in  material,  the  grand 
rhythm  and  swing  of  the  planets,  is  not  for  the  puffing 
up  and  elevation  and  special  glory  of  some  individual, 
personal  king,  so  that  all  mortals  shall  bow  down  and 
worship  him. 

What  would  all  such  bombast  as  that  amount  to, 
except  to  make  the  heart  of  even  man,  sick  ? The 
object  of  all  this  is  certainly  not  to  make  money, 
which  seems  one  of  the  primary  objects  of  man. 

There  is  but  one  object  — one  aim  of  it  all,  and 
that  is  for  the  perfect  content , peace , and  happiness  of 
life  in  all  its  manifestations , from  the  lowest  form  up 
through  them  all,  to  man,  the  highest. 

Everything — that  we  yet  know  of — and  all  envi- 
ronment, is  made  perfect  for  us,  providing  we  do  not 
use  our  marvelous  power  to  disarrange  and  make  con- 
ditions that  are  unreal,  of  inharmony,  illusion,  disease. 

The  common  house-dog  who  sleeps  peacefully  half 
the  day,  in  a warm  spot,  is  living  a perfect  life  of  com- 
fort, in  a heaven,  better  than  which  he  is  not  con- 
scious of.  Man  can  live  the  same  easy  life,  and  in 
the  heaven  made  for  him  right  here , if  he  will  but  be 
easy  and  content  with  his  lot,  knowing  that  all  is  good, 
and  no  harm  is  ever  intended,  or  is  ever  worked  out 
in  reality  by  Nature,  the  Father  of  us  all. 

The  Mail  Jesus,  the  Christ. — The  exact  facts 
about  this  marvelous  man  are  not  generally  under- 
stood. A story  has  got  abroad,  how  old  we  do  not 
know,  that  this  man  was  the  great  God  of  the  uni- 
verse, who  had  taken  the  body  of  man  in  order  to 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT.E. 


71 


meet  man  on  his  own  level,  as  though  he  did  not 
know  him  before. 

There  is  another  preposterous  tale  about  these  little 
men  on  earth,  who  were  created  without  any  choice 
of  their  own  and  who  acted  thoroughly  natural,  just 
as  if  every  move  was  expected  of  them,  but  who  in 
some  way  brought  upon  themselves  the  wrath  of  the 
great  God  of  the  universe,  who  got  so  furiously  angry 
that  nothing  would  appease  him  except  that  his  son, 
Jesus,  would  slip  down  to  earth  and  go  through  the 
tortures  of  the  damned,  and  finally  die,  to  try  and 
pacify  his  father,  the  king,  and  this  scheme  was  car- 
ried out,  according  to  this  fearful  and  wonderful  tale. 

These  tales  lack  one  ingredient,  quite  an  important 
one,  and  that  is  truth.  They  are  simply  tales  of  the 
simple  minded  folks,  what  is  called  “folk-lore,”  and 
no  such  thing  ever  existed  except  in  the  imagination 
of  the  story-teller. 

Among  the  many  grand  teachers  of  the 

higher  life  that  have  arisen  from  time  to  time  since 
man  has  been  evolved  from  the  animal  stage,  this 
man  Jesus  was  perhaps  the  most  remarkable,  and 
really  the  most  spiritual  of  them  all.  He  embodied 
more  of  the  force  of  the  Soul-plane  of  Mind,  which 
controls  material,  than  any  other. 

He  was  able  to  make  a brazier  of  coals,  with  food, 
appear  upon  the  shore,  without  any  manipulation  of 
hands.  He  was  able  to  increase  the  fishes  and  loaves, 
to  what  would  seem  to  be  a marvelous  extent.  He 
had  great  control  over  the  bodies  of  men,  and  the 
power  to  dismiss  their  ails. 


72 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


Those  of  an  investigating  turn  of  mind  would  natu- 
rally inquire  why,  of  all  the  teachers,  this  one  seemed 
endowed  with  so  much  greater  potency. 

Knowing  somewhat  of  the  law  of  thought,  of  the 
plane  of  mind  and  its  power,  we  have  that  potency  to 
follow  back  for  an  explanation  of  the  phenomenon. 

No  one  who  was  ever  born  on  this  planet  had  so  many 
thousand  individuals  thinking  of  his  coming  for  ages 
and  generations  prior  to  his  advent,  as  did  the  man, 
Jesus.  From  the  time  of  David  on  down  to  his  birth, 
prophets  were  prophesying,  and  people  were  thinking 
of  the  coming  of  a great  king  in  the  line  of  David. 
Their  thoughts  took  a high  current  or  channel,  and 
when  finally  these  combined  thought  forces  climaxed 
and  were  manifested  in  the  flesh  (as  all  children  are 
the  manifest  moulded  thought  of  the  mother,  and  of 
the  generation  back  woven  in),  so  we  find  this  little 
one  endowed  with  the  marvelous  potency  and  power  of 
a tremendous  thought-line  back  of  him.  His  motives 
or  influences  were  therefore  different  from  those  of 
any  other  man  who  was  ever  born  on  this  planet. 
Each  individual  has  mental  power  to  shape  and  con- 
trol material  to  an  extent  — more  with  some  than 
others.  One  great  man  can  mould  and  guide  the  move- 
ments of  thousands  or  millions  of  men,  and  no  man 
exists,  however  weak  mentally,  but  can  quickly  shape 
his  face  (material)  by  varying  conditions  of  mind.  All 
grades  of  mental  power  are  represented,  from  the  weak 
to  the  strong. 

The  individual  thought-line  of  one  high-minded 
woman,  if  skillfully  directed,  may  be  powerful  enough 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT^E. 


73 


to  produce  a refined,  high-spirited,  and  noble  child 
in  spite  of  the  evil  thought  force  of  ancestry. 

If  one  individual  mind,  or  a unit,  can  exert  such 
power,  a thousand  or  one  hundred  thousand,  intent  on 
one  object,  can  produce  an  endowment  of  the  individ- 
ual on  whom  their  thoughts  are  centered,  that  gives 
us  such  a one  as  Jesus  the  Christ.  Thoughts  are 
things,  much  more  so  than  volts  of  electricity.  There 
is  one  primal  energy,  and  that  is  mind.  All  formed 
things  are  thoughts  of  mind  worked  ont  in 
material. 

It  is  recorded  that  as  a little  boy  Jesus  exhibited 
great  power  over  material,  and  before  he  knew  how 
to  handle  it  wisely.  It  is  stated  that  some  of  his 
playmates  who  incurred  his  displeasure  were  in- 
stantly paralyzed.  We  find  in  the  history  of  this 
time,  apart  from  the  history  as  recorded  in  the  New 
Testament,  that  such  a man  did  exist  as  a teacher, 
and  his  works  were  marvelous  ; ‘ ‘ that  many  miracles 
were  performed  by  him,  and  that  his  rebuke  was  some- 
thing terrible.”  The  record,  as  given  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament, is  generally  considered  by  the  best  scholars  of 
the  day  to  be  practically  an  authentic  record  of  the 
events  as  they  occurred  at  that  time,  with  some  of 
the  details  perhaps  a little  hazy,  but  in  the  main 
correct. 

His  teaching  is  not  understood  by  the  people 
of  the  churches  to-day,  who  are  thoroughly  drilled  in 
body  and  all  of  its  laws,  but  who  know  practically 
nothing  of  the  power  of  soul,  spirit,  that  is  the  real 
man  here  and  now. 


74 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


The  churches  preach  soul  and  good  things  to  come, 
when  you  die  and  become  immortal.  They  do  not  rec- 
ognize the  fact  that  man  is  immortal  now,  living  in 
eternity  now,  living  in  heaven  now,  if  he  will  but  per- 
mit himself  to  dwell  there,  and  look  upon  the  body  as 
practically  nothing,  as  merely  the  residue  after  the 
forces  have  left,  and  this  residue,  called  material,  is 
gathered  together  and  shaped  by  the  real  man, 
mind,  soul,  life.  But  the  churches  look  upon  evil 
as  something.  They  practically  admit  the  existence 
of  two  great  powers,  one  warring  against  the  other, — 
Evil  as  a power,  and  Good  as  a power.  For  this 
reason  they  are  unable  to  heal  either  themselves  or 
their  friends,  by  mental  or  spiritual  healing,  and  are 
therefore  unable  to  follow  the  Master’s  commands. 
Whenever  they  come  to  know  that  which  the  Great 
Teacher  taught,  that  there  is  but  one  Force,  one 
Power,  one  Life,  and  that  is  good,  and  that  man  is 
a part  of  it,  and  has  no  part  in  evil  ; that  evil  does 
not  exist  as  a reality,  neither  does  disease,  sickness, 
or  pain,  — when  they  know  that  these  are  simply 
the  illusions. of  the  human  intellect,  and  have  no  ex- 
istence in  fact,  then  they  will  be  able  to  handle  the 
marvelous  healing  current  of  the  Father. 

One  of  tlie  most  beautiful  lessons  given  by 
Jesus,  the  Great  Teacher,  is  that  of  the  prodigal  son. 
In  effect  it  is  as  follows  : We  are  endowed  with  our 

portion,  that  is,  the  body.  We  dwell  originally  with 
the  Father,  the  great  Mind,  the  Oversoul.  When  this 
soul  is  endowed  with  the  material  body  (its  portion), 
it  wanders  off  to  have  a good  time  and  enjoy  things 
on  this  material  plane,  until  after  a time,  the  son  is 


OR  SCIENTIA  VITiE. 


75 


found  with  the  swine-feeders,  and  living  upon  husks  — 
a sad  condition  for  the  true  son  of  the  noble  Father. 
The  son  finally  realizes  that  back  in  the  Father’s  house 
there  is  comfort,  peace,  plenty,  and  he  determines  to 
go  there.  As  the  son  approaches  the  Father’s  house, 
that  is,  as  the  mind  of  man  turns  back  to  the  great 
Mind,  the  Father  of  us  all,  as  the  parable  goes,  the 
Father  comes  out  to  meet  the  son. 

This  is  a beautiful  thought,  showing  us  that  it  does 
not  require  skilled  mental  power  to  penetrate  clear 
into  the  Father’s  house  before  we  get  recognition,  but 
if  we  turn  in  a simple  way  back  to  our  birthright,  to 
the  fact  that  the  mind,  which  is  ourself,  is  one  with 
the  great  Mind,  and  that  we  have,  all  of  the  rights  fol- 
lowing, then  the  Father  comes  out  of  the  house  part 
way  to  meet  us,  and  all  is  forgotten  and  forgiven,  and 
the  son  is  taken  back  into  the  old  place  with  power 
and  happiness. 

When  one  understands  the  teachings  of  Jesus,  the 
Christ,  or  Jesus,  the  Life,  he  can  read  the  New  Testa- 
ment as  a new  book. 

There  is  another  saying  that  we  should  always  hold 
before  us.  If  you  deny  the  Christ,  which  is  the  Life, 
which  is  you,  which  is  also  the  Father,  which  has  all 
power  over  the  body,  and  the  body  has  no  power  over 
it, — if  you  deny  this  power  of  life,  or  the  Christ,  and 
admit  the  power  of  the  body  over  it,  you  will  suffer 
in  proportion  ; for  the  Christ  will  deny  you.  There- 
fore, stand  fast  in  the  knowledge  that  you  are  ruler 
now , and  at  all  times,  and  that  body  has  absolutely 
no  right  to  send  up  claims  of  distress  or  trouble;  for  it 
is  made  of  dead  matter  and  sensitized  by  your  human 


j6  NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 

intellect,  so  that  any  pain  that  you  think  comes  from 
body  is  a creation  of  your  intellect,  and  is  the  lower 
mind,  subject  at  all  times  to  the  higher. 

Treatment.—  I am  that  power  which  is  manifest- 
ing itself  on  the  earthly  plane  by  means  of  a body 
built  of  earth  and  water. 

I am  superior  at  all  times  to  that  body  as  it  is 
wholly  the  product  of  the  Father  and  myself  as  one. 

Pain  never  comes  from  body  directly  ; for  it  is  a 
dreature  of  intellect  or  lower  mind. 

I bid  the  lower  mind  cease  its  efforts  to  force  inhar- 
mony on  my  notice.  It  is  a lie  of  intellect.  There  is 
but  one  power,  and  that  is  God,  Life,  one  with  me. 

“Know  ye  not  that  to  whom  ye  yielded  yourselves 
servants,  his  servants  ye  are  to  whom  ye  obey?”  I 
may  have  apparently  smirched  myself  heretofore,  by 
thinking  hate , prejudice , envy , and  enlisted  under  such 
leadership,  have  been  compelled  to  serve  ; but  now  I 
know  I am  part  of  the  God  power. 

I purpose  to  dwell  in  the  line  of  harmony,  not  hate  ; 
perfect  equality  and  justice,  not  prejudice  ; love  and 
not  envy.  I know  only  the  positive  principles  and 
none  of  the  negative. 

In  this  way  I live  in  a world  of  Peace  and  Health. 
The  principles  in  the  world  where  I have  chosen  to 
live  (and  I have  the  power  to  choose)  are  as  follows  : — 

POSITIVE  PRINCIPLES. 

Life,  there  is  no  Death. 

Light,  there  is  no  Darkness. 

Abundance,  there  is  no  Lack. 

Peace,  there  is  no  Discord. 


OR  SCIENTIA  VITJE. 


77 


Freedom,  there  is  no  Slavery. 

Health,  there  is  no  Sickness. 

Pleasure,  there  is  no  Pain. 

Goodness,  there  is  no  Evil. 

Harmony,  there  is  no  Inharmony. 

Right,  there  is  no  Wrong. 

Comfort,  there  is  no  Discomfort. 

Ease,  there  is  no  Worry. 

Progress,  there  is  no  Congestion. 

Love,  there  is  no  Hate. 

Justice,  there  is  no  Prejudice. 

It  was  originally  intended  to  avoid  refer- 
ence to  “The  Inn”  in  these  pages.  But  it  seems 
almost  obligatory  to  give  a few  words  by  way  of 
explanation,  and  cite  a few  cases  as  evidence  of 
the  correctness  of  the  teachings  herein  contained. 
Therefore  with  the  reader’s  permission  we  will  inject 
a little  personality  with  the  sincere  request  that  the 
reader  join  us  in  the  knowledge  that  we  work  for, 
and  endeavor  to  demonstrate  the  Eternal  Principle 
of  Life.  If  the  dominant  motive  was  the  elevation 
of  poor,  cheap,  bodily  self,  we  should  fail.  But 
when  one  knows  they  are  but  the  plate  glass  pane, 
which  God’s  light  shines  through  to  light  up  the  ones 
in  darkness,  then  the  being  becomes  the  method  of 
transmission  of  the  Eternal,  and  you  have  no  thought 
of  pride  of  selfhood.  With  a fair  understanding, 
then,  we  submit  the  following  : — 

La  Vita  Inn  Co.  was  chartered  by  the  State  of 
Michigan  for  the  treatment  and  education  of  guests 
in  Scientia  Vitae.  With  a paid  capital  of  $50,000, 


78 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


an  old  homestead  in  Battle  Creek,  surrounded 
with  pine  trees,  ample  pear  and  apple  orchards, 
gardens,  lawns,  a natural  oak  grove,  etc. , etc. , 
was  purchased.  The  grounds  in  the  city  are 

about  ten  acres  in  extent,  and  are  undulating  and 
picturesque.  An  electric  car  line  furnishes  transpor- 
tation to  the  business  center  in  about  eight  minutes. 

All  the  advantage  is  obtained  of  a cool,  restful  spot 
among  the  trees,  and  seemingly  in  the  country. 

In  no  sense  does  The  Inn  resemble  a hospital. 
While  it  is  conducted  as  a hotel,  the  guests  have  the 
freedom  of  the  house,  and  are  looked  upon  as  mem- 
bers of  a large  family,  sojourning  at  a country  seat, 
the  daily  life  being  a round  of  such  occupations  as 
tend  to  the  most  perfect  ideal  of  content  and  happi- 
ness, with  Health  as  the  constant  and  eternal  verity. 

The  present  manager  of  The  Inn  was  brought  up 
from  the  edge  of  the  grave  through  Scientia  Vitae  but 
partially  understood,  after  having  exhausted  all 
known  remedies  that  seemed  applicable.  All  cli- 
mates of  America  were  tried  ; sea  voyages,  summer 
resorts,  ranching  in  Texas,  mountain  resorts,  mineral 
springs,  Swedish  movements,  special  massage,  gym- 
nastics, dieting,  will  power,  special  treatment  and 
scientific  selection  of  foods,  special  tests  of  the 
strength  of  gastric  juices,  and  the  application  of  food 
of  a character  that  the  gastric  juices  in  their  peculiar 
condition  would  best  handle,  etc.,  etc.,  etc. 

The  case  baffled  some  of  the  most  eminent  physi- 
cians in  America.  When  thought  to  be  dying,  the 
patient  was  put  under  Scientia  Vitae  of  a somewhat 
crude  form  and  gained  two  pounds  per  day  for  a time. 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT M. 


79 


going  from  120  pounds  to  185  pounds  in  sixty  days. 
Constipation,  of  so  obstinate  a character  that  enemas 
had  ceased  to  have  any  effect,  was  entirely  corrected. 
The  patient  had  been  ill  about  seven  years,  and  deter- 
mined, upon  recovery,  to  devote  his  time  and  energies 
to  securing  a more  perfect  understanding  of  the 
methods  of  handling  the  life  forces,  which  up  to  this 
time  seems  to  have  been  dimly  recognized. 

The  many  new  discoveries,  and  the  logical  arrange- 
ment of  some  old,  have  resulted  in  a line  of  practice 
which  can  be  absolutely  depended  upon  to  produce 
the  desired  results. 

A short  description  of  one  case,  a sample  of 
a large  class  met  in  our  practice,  may  convey  to  the 
reader  some  idea  of  conditions  and  results. 

A lady  brought  her  daughter,  of  perhaps  twenty- 
four,  to  us  from  a prominent  sanitarium,  where  she 
had  been  confined  to  her  room  or  a wheel  chair  about 
eleven  months,  and  had  not  put  her  foot  on  the 
ground  for  about  fifteen  months.  She  had  been  an 
invalid  some  fourteen  years,  and  had  received  the  best 
care  and  most  skillful  medical  attention  that  money 
would  procure.  Before  being  brought  to  The  Inn,  the 
patient  laid  with  eyes  covered,  and  ears  plugged  with 
cotton,  any  undue  noise  or  prolonged  use  of  eyes  pro- 
ducing spasms.  The  stomach  refused  to  handle  food 
in  sufficient  quantity,  or  of  any  but  the  simplest  sort  ; 
the  rectal  muscles  were  drawn  so  taut  day  and  night 
that  a natural  operation  of  the  bowels  was  impossible, 
and  peaceful  sleep  unknown.  It  was  thought  by  her 
attendants  that  she  could  not  last  more  than  a few 
days  longer  at  best,  and  as  a last  and  desperate  resort 


8o 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


they  concluded  to  put  the  patient  under  treatment  in 
the  new  practice. 

The  day  after  her  arrival  the  mother  was  requested 
to  prepare  the  daughter  for  a little  walk  in  the  yard 
and  to  the  hammocks  among  the  trees.  This  created 
consternation  ; but  it  was  quickly  discovered  that  the 
daughter  seemed  to  have  an  acquisition  of  unseen 
power  and  a right  healthy  desire  to  go  out  doors.  She 
walked  down-stairs  with  finger-tips  on  the  shoulders  of 
the  physician  ahead.  At  the  side  piazza  a little  rest 
was  taken,  and  a spasm  started,  which  was  killed  in  less 
than  thirty  seconds  ; it  could  not  get  fairly  started. 
Slowly  strolling,  looking  at  green  leaves,  blue  sky, 
fleecy  clouds,  and  the  many  signs  of  life,  the  patient 
drank  in  new  life  and  comfort.  When  a hammock  was 
reached,  a spasm  started  again,  and  was  at  once  and 
effectually  nipped  in  the  bud. 

The  patient  lost  fear  when  she  discovered  that 
she  was  in  the  hands  of  a practitioner  who  could  abso- 
lutely and  without  fail,  dismiss  her  spasms,  or  pains. 
She  began  at  once  to  eat  anything  and  everything  her 
palate  called  for,  with  never  a pain  or  any  attempt 
on  the  part  of  stomach  to  refuse  to  do  its  full  duty. 
The  rectal  muscles  relaxed  to  a normal  condition,  and 
the  proper  peristaltic  action  of  the  bowels  set  up  at 
once.  She  found,  as  all  other  patients  do,  that  she 
could  do  whatever  she  chose  that  she  would  do  in  per- 
fect health,  and  that  she  was  absolutely  protected  from 
bad  results  of  any  kind.  In  ten  days  she  was  playing 
in  the  tennis  court,  growing  round  and  fat  and  enjoying 
life  hugely.  She  remained  with  us  a few  months  to 
complete  an  extended  study.  The  grateful  letters 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT^E. 


8l 


of  her  mother  and  herself  certainly  evidence  a desire  to 
express  their  feelings.  , 

When  the  patient  has  once  seen  the  effect  of  a 
power  thrown  around  him , which  dismisses  his 
aches  and  ails,  it  produces  a feeling  of  safety,  peace, 
rest  ; then  courage,  hope,  and  assurance  of  speedy 
return  to  health.  When  the  recuperative  forces  of 
life  are  set  to  work  properly,  there  is  but  one  result , 
Perfect  Health. 

Under  treatment,  the  patient  is  enabled  to  eat 
freely  and  abundantly  at  once.  The  food  is  as- 
similated and  proceeds  to  make  flesh  and  blood. 
The  bowels  quickly  begin  their  natural  work.  Peace- 
ful sleep  is  obtained.  The  ugly  symptoms  disappear, 
and  all  parts  return  to  their  natural  harmonious  con- 
dition. * 

When  patients  desire  it,  they  are  instructed 
each  day  in  the  line  of  treatment,  in  order  that  they 
may  be  able  to  return  to  their  various  duties  and 
know  how  to  remain  well.  Tennis,  croquet,  quoits, 
shooting,  driving,  rowing,  fishing,  together  with  a little 
work  in  orchard,  garden,  or  flower  beds,  indoor  games 
and  -music,  are  accessories  to  the  treatment.  In- 
structed in  a way  to  thoroughly  leave  care  and  worry 
behind,  and  with  the  ability  to  do  duty  at  a liberally 
furnished  table  and  digest  and  assimilate  the  food,  the 
recovery  is  rapid.  This  is  the  unvarying  result  where 
patients  will  follow  the  simple  instructions. 

In  the  beginning,  the  patient  is  treated  and  his 
disorder  dismissed,  but  it  is  our  purpose  to  instruct 
in  such  a way  that  in  a short  time  (occasionally  in 
two  or  three  days)  the  patient  learns  enough  of  Scien- 
6 


8 2 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


tia  Vitas  to  at  least  partially  manage  himself,  dis- 
missing any  little  pain  or  headache,  nervousness, 
insomnia,  or  whatnot  that  might  arise  and  doing  the 
work  so  thoroughly  and  quickly  as  to  excite  his  own 
surprise  and  admiration. 

Our  patients  invariably  get  round,  fat, 
and  rosy,  and  when  they  secure  the  understanding, 
they  can  leave  with  the  full  assurance  that  they  will 
remain  in  that  condition.  They  can  go  through 
business  cares  and  domestic  worry  with  a perfect  self- 
poise and  command  that  acts  as  a shield  which 
cannot  be  punctured,  and  which  insures  immunity 
from  worry,  or  sickness  of  any  sort. 

This  statement  will  seem  impossible  of  realization 
to  many.  It  is  nevertheless  a statement  of  absolute 
fact,  the  undeniable  truth  of  which  is  demonstrable  to 
any  one  who  chooses  to  come  under  treatment. 

The  universal  experience  of  patients  is  to 
recognize  a quick  improvement  and  the  old-time  swing 
of  bounding  health  running  through  their  veins.  Then 
comes  the  fixed  desire  to  know  for  themselves,  some- 
thing of  the  wonderful  power.  The  daily  lectures  and 
private  instruction  produce  the  desired  result. 

It  is  a common  confession  of  patients  who,  before 
coming,  have  put  it  off  from  day  to  day,  fearing  that 
we  could  not  reach  their  particular  case. 

Seeing  and  knowing  of  many  (to  them)  wonderful 
cures,  yet  they  feel  sure  there  are  complications  in 
their  individual  case  that  cannot  be  reached.  This 
feeling,  so  universal,  is  afterward  the  cause  of  frequent 
pleasantries  among  patients. 


OR  SCIENTIA  Vn\E. 


83 


After  instruction  enough  to  grasp  the  facts,  the 
highest  intellects  of  the  day  recognize  the  ponderous 
truths  uncovered  by  Scientia  Vitae  to  be  the  most 
exact  sort  of  common  sense.  In  parallel  lines  with 
the  principle  which  governs  mathematics,  astronomy, 
or  any  other  fixed  science,  but  of  a higher  grade,  mak- 
ing plain  the  powers  of  that  acme  of  all  created  things, 
the  being  called  man,  and  the  undeniable  principle 
fairly,  honestly,  and  intelligently  demonstrated  in  the 
skillful  management  of  the  human  body. 

No  higher  proof  could  be  demanded  than  the  work 
done  upon  their  own  bodies  by  patients  after  short 
teaching. 

A young  man  applied  for  help  who  was  suf- 
fering severely  from  erysipelas  of  the  face.  The  face 
presented  a badly  swollen  surface,  with  a purplish 
tinge,  and  the  acute  suffering  was  so  great  that  he 
would  quickly  change  from  one  foot  to  the  other, 
and  was  unable  to  stand  or  sit  still.  The  instant  the 
practitioner’s  attention  was  called  to  him,  and  the 
picture  of  disease  was  thrust  forward,  there  was  a 
quick  mental  negation  of  its  power,  or  its  reality  — a 
sharp  wiping  of  the  picture  off  from  the  mentality, 
a looking  through  the  plane  of  evil,  and  mentally 
picturing  the  perfect  life,  manifest  behind  the  false 
picture.  The  healing  was  instantaneous,  and  the 
man  left  in  less  than  five  minutes,  but  the  swollen 
condition  of  the  face  probably  did  not  disappear  until 
the  next  day,  or  perhaps  the  day  following. 

About  two  weeks  after  this  occurrence,  the  same 
man  drove  up  with  his  mother,  stating  that  she  had 


84 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


been  awake  all  night  with  an  ulcerated  tooth,  and 
could  get  no  relief.  Her  face  showed  a puffed-out 
bunch  almost  the  size  of  a hickory-nut,  confined 
to  one  particular  spot.  It  required  considerable  per- 
suasion from  her  son  to  induce  her  to  take  mental 
treatment  for  so  acute  an  attack  of  suffering.  The 
pain  was  totally  dismissed  in  about  fifteen  minutes. 

The  healing  of  these  acute  and  comparatively 
light  attacks  does  not  demand  the  attention  and  so 
deep  investigation  as  the  cases  of  old  chronic  diseases 
of  long  standing.  A business  man  from  Omaha,  Neb., 
came  under  the  writer’s  care,  direct  from  a sanitarium, 
where  he  was  considered  in  a very  critical  condition. 
The  lightest  sort  of  food  distressed  him  to  such  a degree 
that  his  physician  had  been  pumping  each  meal  from 
his  stomach  a short  time  after  digestion  should  have 
begun.  He  had  practically  no  power  of  digestion  or 
assimilation,  and  was  sinking  rapidly.  He  stated 
that  for  about  twenty-five  years  he  had  been  a sufferer 
from  stomach  trouble. 

He  was  put  under  mental  treatment,  and  a good, 
rich,  heavy  diet.  Within  a day  or  two  his  bowels 
began  to  move  quite  freely,  passing  off  green  and 
yellow  material,  and  during  one  day  he  ejected  almost 
a pint  of  yellow,  bilious  matter  through  the  mouth. 
He  was  asked  to  name  any  sort  of  food  that  pleased 
his  fancy,  and  upon  the  statement  that  it  seemed  to 
him  almost  forty  years  since  he  had  been  able  to  eat 
pork  and  beans,  with  vinegar,  this  dish  was  served 
to  him  that  day  for  dinner,  together  with  a substan- 


OR  SCIENTIA  VITJE. 


85 


tial  meal  of  other  articles.  No  distress  ever  was 
shown  as  a result  of  the  heavy  feeding,  and  he  fat- 
tened up  quite  rapidly. 

He  was  so  happy  over  his  recovery  that  word  was 
sent  his  sister,  who  inherited  the  same  stomach  weak- 
ness. She  came  at  once  and  experienced  a rapid 
return  to  health. 

Her  special  dish,  which  she  had  been  unable  to 
partake  of  for  a great  many  years,  was  chicken-pie. 
It  has  been  my  custom  to  feed  patients  on  any  sort 
of  edible  food  that  they  like,  and  while  under  treat- 
ment, the  food  will  digest  and  not  create  disturbance, 
even  should  it  happen  to  be  of  the  sort  generally 
considered  very  indigestible. 

Common  sense  would  suggest  to  any  one  who  is  un- 
dertaking to  treat  themselves,  that  the  load  may  not 
seem  so  heavy  if  they  will  eat  plentifully  of  good  food 
that  is  ordinarily  accepted  as  nourishing  and  proper 
from  the  sensible  point  of  view,  leaving  out  the  over- 
indulgence  in  excessively  rich  pastries  and  articles  of 
food  that  may  be  partaken  of  sparingly  and  at  infre- 
quent times. 

A young  gentleman  of  good  family,  in  Chris- 
tiana, Norway,  a university  graduate,  who  had  come 
over  to  America  for  a few  years’  residence,  and  who 
became  infatuated  with  our  possibilities  of  rapid 
money  making,  was  finally  compelled  to  go  to  a 
prominent  sanitarium  for  treatment  for  insomnia. 
After  several  months’  treatment  and  getting  no  better, 
he  was  put  in  charge  of  the  writer.  He  had  been  un- 


86 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


able  to  sleep  for  a number  of  nights  previous,  and 
was  worn  out  and  almost  demented.  He  was  advised 
to  go  to  bed  early  in  the  evening,  and  with  my  finger 
on  his  pulse,  was  snoring  heavily  in  about  five  min- 
utes. He  did  not  awaken  until  the  breakfast  bell 
roused  him.  Hope,  life,  and  comfort  were  within  his 
grasp,  he  stayed  about  two  weeks  to  learn  how  to  care 
for  himself.  A letter  from  him,  some  time  afterward, 
expressed  the  most  heartfelt  gratitude  for  the  substan- 
tial, enduring  comfort  he  had  gained  by  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  new  life. 

A man  of  about  thirty-eight  years  applied  for 
treatment,  his  trouble  being  one  of  the  nervous  system. 
His  stomach  was  partly  affected,  but  the  feeling  of 
fear,  apprehension,  and  the  sinking  away  sensation 
that  comes  over  such  cases  was  quite  marked  in  his. 
These  troubles  were  quickly  dismissed,  and  it  seemed 
that  along  with  them  went  the  whisky  habit  and  the 
desire  for  tobacco.  He  said  nothing  of  either  one  of  the 
latter,  but  it  came  to  the  writer’s  ears  from  a dentist, 
to  whom  the  young  man  stated  that  he  hardly  under- 
stood what  had  come  over  him,  but  he  had  lost  all 
taste  for  tobacco.  After  the  patient  had  left  the  Inn, 
a few  warm  days  came,  when  the  snow  went  off 
quickly,  exposing  a handsome  whisky  bottle  under 
his  window,  which  had  been  dropped  out  with  half 
the  whiskey  unused,  mutely  telling  its  own  tale. 

An  attorney,  from  Kentucky,  who  had  been  occupied 
about  four  years  in  trying  to  regain  his  lost  health, 
came  to  us  after  quite  a varied  experience.  He  had 
been  six  weeks  in  a prominent  hospital  in  Cincinnati, 
four  months  in  a well  known  sanitarium,  later  under 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT^E. 


87 


the  care  of  a prominent  physician  in  New  York  City, 
and  finally,  just  before  coming  to  us,  he  had  been 
placed  in  charge  of  one  of  the  two  best-known  physi- 
cians in  America.  The  location  of  this  physician  is  not 
given,  as  it  points  directly  to  his  name,  and  it  is  not  our 
purpose  to  cast  the  slightest  reproach  on  any  physi- 
cian, hospital,  or  sanitarium,  who,  while  they  fail  in 
a great  many  cases,  do  honestly  what  they  can  for  the 
alleviation  of  human  distress.  The  attorney  spoken 
of  was  one  of  the  living  skeletons  — stomach,  liver, 
bowels,  spinal-cord,  and  the  right  ankle  and  heel  be- 
ing involved.  He  was  a university  man,  liberally 
educated,  with  a horror  of  all  things  which  do  not 
have  a basis  of  demonstrable  truth.  He  sharply  con- 
tested every  inch  of  the  ground  in  the  instruction  in 
mental  healing,  so  that  his  progress  was  retarded  con- 
siderably. It  required  about  four  months  to  put  him 
in  first-class  condition.  He  is,  at  this  present  writ- 
ing (about  a year  later),  attending  to  his  own  matters 
skillfully,  and  a late  letter  indicates  a perfect  condi- 
tion of  health. 

A lady  about  sixty  years  old,  from  Kansas 
City,  Mo.,  was  under  treatment  at  a sanitarium  for  a 
number  of  months  for  pronounced  nervous  prostration 
and  acute  inflammation  of  the  neck  of  the  bladder. 
Getting  no  better,  but  rather  worse,  her  son  went  to 
the  institution  to  ascertain  his  mother’s  condition,  and 
was  told  by  the  medical  director  that  she  could  live 
but  a short  time.  He  thought  that  no  effort  should 
be  spared  to  ‘ ‘ save  his  mother’s  life,  ” and  while  he  was 
not  sufficiently  informed  in  the  higher  line  of  thought 
to  know  anything  of  our  form  of  practice,  he  had 


88 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


heard  of  the  cures  and  brought  his  mother  to  us.  She 
remained  about  three  weeks.  Her  cure  was  complete 
and  permanent.  A letter  from  her,  eight  months  later, 
stated  that  we  would  not  recognize  her,  she  was  so  fat 
and  well. 

A near  neighbor,  knowing  of  the  case,  sent  a daugh- 
ter to  us  who  was  in  the  second  stage  of  ovarian^  trouble, 
and  in  a distressed  condition  nervously.  She  had 
been  unable  to  eat  properly,  as  the  food  seemed  to 
bring  on  violent  vomiting.  It  had  been  necessary  for 
several  months  to  administer  heavy  anaesthetics  thor- 
oughly during  her  monthly  periods.  Her  physician 
advised  the  family  to  send  her  to  us,  and  when  she 
returned  with  a round,  healthy  body,  the  comments 
of  the  physician  and  friends,  as  reported  to  us,  were 
quite  flattering. 

A number  of  cases  of  female  disease  and  ovarian 
troubles  have  come  under  treatment.  In  some  cases 
where  the  ovaries  are  swollen  and  a sac  of  matter 
accumulates,  the  suppuration  is  generally  dismissed 
through  the  natural  outlet,  without  pain  or  special 
interference,  and  most  certainly  without  the  use  of 
the  knife  or  drugs  of  any  sort.  Such  cases  are  healed 
and  healed  quickly.  The  names  and  addresses  can 
be  given  upon  application.  It  does  not  seem  best  to 
publish  names  of  patients,  for  cultivated  people  hesi- 
tate to  assume  the  notoriety  thu^  gained,  although,  in 
a semi-priVate  way,  our  patients  are  always  glad  to 
explain  and  help  others  to  understand.  In  many 
cases  they  turn  out  to  be  practitioners  of  no  mean 
order. 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT.E. 


89 


In  order  to  gain  an  understanding  of  some  of 
the  permanent  laws  governing  the  bodies  of  all  ani- 
mals, man  included,  it  may  be  well  to  give  a super- 
ficial explanation  of  how  and  why  these  bodies  assume 
their  present  form.  No  effort  will  be  made  to  go  into 
the  minute  details  of  the  formation  of  the  earth,  and 
of  the  theory  of  evolution,  which  would  require  a vo- 
luminous book  of  itself,  but  those  who  wish  to  investi- 
gate these  subjects  carefully,  can  do  so  by  consulting 
modern  works  upon  the  subject,  to  the  great  advan- 
tage of  the  thoughtful  investigator.  The  best  thought 
of  the  day  is  a unit  on  the  nebular  theory  for  an  ex- 
planation of  the  creation  of  all  planets  or  worlds. 
Masses  of  nebulous  matter,  which  are  created  from 
time  to  time  in  the  ether,  when  of  sufficient  volume, 
join  themselves  together  around  one  center,  and  the 
laws  of  gravitation  are  set  up,  as  well  as  all  of 
the  laws  pertaining  to  the  movement  of  a planet. 
These  laws  exist  in  the  one  Divine  Energy,  and 
are  merely  made  use  of  for  each  planet  as  a manifesta- 
tion of  this  power. 

After  the  original  ball  is  started  in  this  sort  of  way, 
it  is  gradually  added  to  by  accumulations  of  matter 
from  the  ether  surrounding,  and  the  balls  or  planets 
grow  for  ofttimes  millions  of  years.  It  is  a well  under- 
stood fact  in  geology  that  this  earth  has  existed  for, 
at  least,  one  hundred  million  years,  probably  very 
much  longer. 

In,  or  connected  with,  the  nebulous  matter  that  is 
massed  up  together,  is  found  what  are  termed  pri- 
mordial germs,  which  were,  up  to  within  the  past  few 


90 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


years,  supposed  to  be  the  origin  of  what  is  known  as 
life,  but  it  is  now  understood  that  these  primordial 
germs  are  simply  the  original  manifestation  of  life  on 
the  plane  of  material  of  which  this  earth  is  constructed. 
These  germs  of  material  do  not  produce  Life,  but 
Life  moulds  them. 

Life  chooses  to  manifest  itself  in  a slow  progression, 
that  is  it  seems  slow  to  the  human  mind,  requiring 
thousands  upon  thousands  of  years  to  develop  and  step 
forward  from  one  step  to  another.  It  is  a well-known 
fact  that  it  requires  about  twenty-eight  thousand  years 
to  evolve  or  produce  one  species  of  the  animal  king- 
dom, and  yet  twenty-eight  thousand  years  is  but  a 
faint  speck  upon  the  great  time-table  of  eternal 
life. 

The  primordial  germ  on  this  planet  existed  in 
water,  as  the  larger  part  of  the  surface  of  the  earth, 
if  not  all  of  it,  was  covered  with  water,  a product 
of  the  gases.  This  is  proven  by  tracing  all  animal 
formations  back  to  their  water-inhabiting  ancestors. 

Gradually,  as  the  water  receded,  and  land  appeared, 
after  the  original  manfestation  of  life  had  evolved  from 
one  step  to  another,  there  appeared  species  of  fish  and 
water  forms.  Some  forms  were,  like  the  snail, 
thrown  up  on  land  from  time  to  time,  and  gradually 
evolved  species,  or  perhaps  several  species,  that  were 
part  land  and  part  water  creatures.  From  these 
gradually  evolved  those  who  breathed  the  air,  con- 
taining mostly  oxygen,  and  lived  upon  land  alone. 
Their  previous  water  experience,  gone  through  with 
by  their  ancestors  for  thousands  of  years  back,  was 
gradually  forgotten. 


OR  SCIENTIA  VITiE. 


91 


Now  these  principal  and  primary  laws  running  all 
through  these  manifestations  worked  changes  as  the 
newly  formed  bodies  came  into  new  environments  or 
surroundings,  and  required  new  shapes,  fingers  instead 
of  fins,  for  instance,  and  feet  instead  of  a fin-like  tail. 

We  find  that  as  the  demand  for  new  bodily  parts 
came,  the  supply  was  given  ; slowly,  remember,  re- 
quiring hundreds  and  thousands  of  years. 

This  law  is  firmly  fixed,  and  can  be  read  by  any 
one  (skillful  and  patient  enough),  in  the  various 
forms  of  manifested  life.  This  great  subject  of  “Evo- 
lution” is  but  touched  upon  in  these  pages.  The 
reader  is  referred  first  to  the  writings  of  Aristotle, 
Harvey,  Malpighi,  Leibuitz,  Bonnet,  Haller,  Buffon, 
and  finally  Caspar  F.  Wolff  in  “Theoria  Genera- 
tionis,  ” published  in  1759,  all  previous  to  the  present 
century.  Then  follows  Prevost  and  Dumas  in  France, 
and  Dollinger,  Pander,  Von  Bar,  Rathke,  and  Remak, 
of  Germany,  thinkers  and  writers  of  this  century. 

Nearer  to  our  present  day  we  have  Darwin  in 
“Theory  of  Natural  Selection,”  “ Origin  of  Species,” 
and  other  works.  Herbert  Spencer’s  “Principles  of 
Biology  ” and  especially  his  work  “ Principles  of  Psy- 
chology.” A.  R.  Wallace  (who  was  associated  with 
Darwin),  as  well  as  Prof.  Haekel,  were  careful  inves- 
tigators of  this  profound  subject. 

A study  of  the  writings  of  these  philosophers  about 
in  the  order  given,  will  show  how  far  in  advance  of 
their  associates  these  writers  were,  and  we  find  that, 
according  to  the  Principle  of  the  very  law  they  are 
and  have  been  trying  to  learn  the  truth  of,  the  facts 
are  unfolded  slowly  but  surely  from  one  to  another, 


92 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


each  successive  one  winning  a little  more  from  the 
great  kingdom  of  the  unknown,  until  just  at  this  time 
the  facts  are  coming  to  many  thinkers,  thick,  fast, 
and  new. 

All  Truth  is  a fixed  and  unchanging  Prin- 
ciple, but  our  knowledge  of  Truth  is  ever  progress- 
ive, and  we  win  fact  after  fact. 

When  a fact  is  first  won,  or  in  other  words, 
when  a new  ray  of  light  from  Truth  is  discovered,  it 
is  universally  cried  down  by  the  masses,  who  have 
not  been  evolved  far  enough  to  be  able  to  digest  it. 
Then  after  five,  ten,  or  perhaps  fifty  years,  people 
(the  masses)  ripen  and  step  forward  a little  to  a 
higher  plane  of  understanding,  where  they  all  accept 
as  an  every-day  fact,  the  “heresies”  and  “free 
thought  ” of  the  profound  thinker  who  uttered  the 
truth  years  ago,  but  is  always  in  advance  of  his  age. 

Mark  a difference  between  the  wild  imaginings  of 
some  erratic  human  intellect,  and  the  grand  truths 
uttered  by  those  who  make  their  investigations  along 
the  line  of  law,  never  leaving  one  law  until  its  thor- 
ough understanding  permits,  and  leads  up  to  the 
knowledge  of  another,  yet  higher. 

Any  one  who  is  unaccustomed  to  seeing  the 
human  skeleton,  is  almost  struck  dumb  with  amaze- 
ment at  the  sight  of  a perfect  stub  of  a tail  at  the  end 
of  the  spinal  column,  and  with  the  further  discovery 
at  post-mortem  examinations,  of  the  muscles  required 
to  move  that  tail,  the  tail  having  been  so  lately  dis- 
missed in  the  species  called  man. 

It  was  dismissed  because  it  was  not  used.  If  a man 
refuses  to  use  his  right  arm  at  all,  nature  will  produce 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT-®. 


93 


a condition  of  atrophy,  and  the  arm  becomes  useless. 
If  many  generations  of  men  would  persist  in  this 
course,  the  right  arm  would  finally  disappear  alto- 
gether. As  we  need  special  members  for  our  good 
and  our  advancement,  according  to  the  eternal  law  of 
progression,  they  are  gradually  supplied  to  the  species, 
Nature  slowly  dropping  off  that  which  is  not  needed 
and  adding  new  as  new  is  called  for. 

It  is  well  for  persons  to  remember  this 
law  for  their  own  well-being.  When  inclined  to  be 
sick,  or  to  feel  that  they  cannot  use  one  arm,  or  one 
leg,  or  head  or  stomach,  let  him  put  himself  in  har- 
mony with  this  fixed  law  of  the  Father,  that  as  you 
demand  of  the  body  your  right  to  use  it,  for  good,  for 
your  advancement,  for  your  well-being,  you  draw 
upon  universal  law  for  your  right  to  do  so , and  body 
must  and  does  respond  to  your  demands  ; but  if  you 
set  back  and  say  that  stomach  cannot  handle  food, 
and  that  it  does  master  you,  and  you  must  obey  its 
tyrannous  mandates,  you  will  find  yourself  a most 
abject  slave  to  a ruthless  master,  and  if  this  condition 
continues  long  enough,  the  end  will  be  disaster,  ac- 
cording to  mortal  sense. 

Start  a young  man  in  a blacksmith  shop  as  a helper 
to  the  smith.  He  is  expected  to  swing  a sixteen- 
pound  sledge,  perhaps,  whenever  he  is  called  upon. 
After  the  first  day’s  work  he  feels  as  though  his  arms 
were  dead,  and  he  was  a total  wreck  physically.  If 
he  sits  down  and  says  he  cannot  do  the  work,  body 
has  ruled  and  he  cannot,  but  if  he  continues  day  by 
day,  with  the  fixed  determination  that  the  work  is 
good  and  right,  that  it  is  harmonious,  and  he  has  a 


94 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


right  to  compel  body  to  do  this  work,  he  will  find  that 
the  muscles  increase  in  size,  the  inside  of  the  hands 
harden  up,  the  lungs  increase  their  capacity  to  fur- 
nish the  required  amount  of  breath,  and  within  a week 
or  two,  perhaps  a month,  the  man  finds  that  he  is 
doing  the  work  required,  and  his  body  feels,  so  far 
as  he  accepts  its  testimony,  much  better  and  more 
comfortable  than  it  did  before  he  commenced  the 
task. 

This  is  according  to  one  of  the  greatest  laws  that 
surround  man’s  body,  and  let  man  never  lose  sight 
of  this  law,  because,  by  remembering  it,  and  adjusting 
himself  to  it,  it  will  assist  in  the  preservation  of  the 
health  of  the  body.  Beware  of  one  mistake  in  this 
connection,  if  you  persist  in  calling  upon  the  body  to 
do  something  which  is  unnatural,  you  will  suffer  the 
consequences,  or  if  you  persist  in  calling  upon  the 
body  to  do  work  that  is  entirely  natural,  but  you  hold 
the  thought  uppermost  mentally  that  you  cannot  stand 
it,  and  you  are  out  of  harmony  yourself,  you  will  likely 
experience  exhaustion  as  well. 

You  must  make  your  demands  of  body  un- 
der the  fixed  knowledge  that  you  have  the  undeni- 
able right  to  use  body  as  a servant  for  all  tasks  that 
are  good  and  natural.  You,  thereupon,  obtain  your 
rights,  under  the  law,  but  it  must  not  be  done  under 
the  condemnation  that  many  hold. 

This  is  especially  applicable  to  stomach  cases. 
They  have  some  trouble  with  the  stomach  because 
of  some  mental  inharmony,  and  they  thereupon  think 
that  the  various  articles  of  food,  for  some  reason,  are 
not  properly  handled  by  the  stomach,  and  that  the 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT,E. 


95 


stomach  is  at  fault  and  must  be  pampered.  They 
start  in  for  a course  of  dieting,  hot  water,  Graham 
bread,  bran  mash,  and  the  various  forms  of  nonsense 
that  often  go  under  the  name  of  hygiene. 

The  longer  this  is  followed,  and  the  more  the 
rule  of  the  stomach  is  obeyed,  the  worse  the  patient 
usually  gets 'until  some  motive  or  influence  comes  over 
the  mind  of  the  individual,  which  influences  him  to 
branch  out  and  partake  of  natural  food  in  sufficient 
quantities. 

The  quickest  way  out  of  the  difficulty  is  to  realize 
fully,  and  at  once,  that  you  are  spirit  and  not  body, 
and  that  spirit  controls.  Now,  feed  the  stomach  on 
any  edible  food  and  command  it  to  do  its  work, 
knowing  that  you  have  the  God  power  to  manage. 
The  mortal  mind  may  hesitate  and  cause  the  stomach 
to  cry,  but  continue  your  steady,  natural  method  of 
feeding.  Put  down  the  laws  of  the  lower  mind  and 
assert  the  law  of  the  upper.  You  will  find,  shortly, 
that  stomach  begins  to  work , and  the  body  begins  to 
round  out.  The  nerve  cells  begin  to  fill  up  with 
grey  matter,  and  the  whole  machinery  of  the  body 
takes  upon  itself  new  life  and  a much  more  perfect 
line  of  work. 

This  subject  has  been  touched  upon  in  order  to  get 
an  understanding  of  some  of  the  causes  which  lead 
to  man’s  material  destruction.  Man  has  much  to  do 
with  the  making  of  the  laws  which  govern  and  control 
his  own  body.  Life  has  changed  the  shape  of  the 
animal  from  time  to  time  as  new  surroundings  came, 
and  has  had  all  of  the  making  of  the  form  of  the 
human  body  by  the  demand  for  the  various  members 


96 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


through  thousands  and  thousands  of  years  back  ; so 
that  the  human  being  now  represents  the  sum  total  of 
all  the  experiences  of  manifest  Life  since  the  earth 
was  formed. 

Now,  as  man  makes  the  law,  whether  things 
are  for  his  need,  or  not,  his  body  is  affected  to  a 
degree  thereby.  Many  of  the  articles  of  food  and  the 
methods  of  living,  protection  by  clothing,  houses, 
etc.,  have  so  long  been  accepted  by  man  as  good, 
and  for  his  well-being,  that  they  have  become  fixed 
laws.  It  is  an  old  saying  that  “custom  makes  laws,” 
and  this  is  true,  to  an  extent  but  little  realized. 
When  man  gets  into  habits  that  do  not  conform  to 
the  higher  law,  as  laid  down  by  the  Father,  he  suffers 
therefrom,  and  his  suffering-  is  increased  as  he  be- 
comes conscious  of  the  fact  that  he  is  acting  in  a 
manner  that  does  not  conform  to  the  universal  law 
of  harmony.  This  is  especially  noticeable  in  the  use 
of  stimulants,  such  as  whisky,  and  the  various  forms 
of  alcoholic  drinks,  morphine,  tobacco,  and  even 
coffee  (the  latter  belongs  to  the  same  company,  al- 
though it  does  not  rank  in  power  with  the  others). 

These  articles  were  all  created  by  universal  law, 
and  for  a specific  purpose.  When  man  began  to  use 
liquors,  the  harm  to  his  material  organs  did  not  ap- 
proach what  it  does  to-day.  Even  fifty  or  one  hun- 
dred years  ago,  when  good,  healthy  men  used  a little 
liquor  daily  and  had  their  pipe,  they  did  not  manifest 
the  physical  disturbance  to  anything  like  the  degree 
that  the  use  of  these  articles  produces  to-day. 

This  is  largely  attributable  to  the  thought  force 
surrounding  these  articles,  which  has  condemned 


OR  SCIENTIA  VITiE. 


97 


them  for  the  use  of  man,  and  man,  although  he 
knows  nothing  of  the  opinion  of  others,  is  subject 
to  this  condemnation,  because  it  exists  as  a certainty 
on  the  unseen  plane  of  power,  that  is,  of  thought. 
But  man,  with  his  marvelous  power,  and  seeming 
desire  of  the  lower  mind  to  force  him  away  from  a 
natural,  harmonious  life,  has  surrounded  these  arti- 
cles with  such  tremendous  power,  that  when  he  once 
gets  into  the  habit  (which  is  mental  entirely)  of  using 
any  one.  of  these  articles,  it  seems  next  to  impossible 
for  him  to  break  away  from  the  enslavement. 

Whisky  is  considered  by  many  as  an  upright 
gentleman  compared  with  tobacco.  Whisky  will 
stand  up  open  and  above  board,  and  quickly  intoxi- 
cate and  degrade  the  taker,  so  that  if  he  has  but  little 
mental  control,  he  is  likely  to  discontinue  the  use  of 
the  article,  but  tobacco  is  one  of  the  most  insidious 
enemies  of  the  human  frame.  Its  special  mission 
seems  to  be  to  tear  down  and  neutralize  all  efforts  of 
nature  toward  a sturdy  and  healthful  manifestation  in 
the  body.  Its  effect  is  very  peculiar,  differing  a little 
with  every  individual,  because  each  individual  human 
mind  differs  somewhat.  To  the  ordinary  person,  the 
result  of  tobacco  is  to  steadily  poison  the  nerve  cen- 
ters, first  producing  the  effect  of  a stimulant,  and  if 
the  chewing  or  smoking  is  kept  up  a sufficient  time, 
the  stimulant  effect  changes  to  what  is  known  as 
the  drug  effect  upon  the  nerve  centers. 

When  this  has  gone  on  far  enough,  the  user  will 
throw  out  the  tobacco,  and  often  feel  a lassitude  for 
a short  time,  until  nature  succeeds  in  throwing  off 
part  of  the  sedative  effect,  whereupon  intellect  calls 
7 


98 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


for  another  dose.  It  is  a suave,  politic,  and  persuasive 
enemy,  dangerous  in  the  highest  degree.  Its  effect 
takes  from  man  his  power  to  advance  as  he  could, 
were  the  neutralizing  drug  withheld,  the  tobacco  mo- 
tive seeming  to  exist  as  a negative. 

The  noble  animal,  man,  would  progress  faster  than 
the  law  of  evolution  fixes,  if  it  were  not  for  the  neu- 
tralizing elements  or  motives  ; namely,  whisky,  mor- 
phine, tobacco,  coffee,  excessive  animal  passions,  and 
other  unnatural  conditions. 

These  destructive  motives  seem  to  exist  solely  to 
kill  off  the  surplus  of  mankind.  As  a rule  among  men, 
the  keenest,  quickest  intellects  seem  to  demand  the 
neutralizing  effect  of  some  one  of  these  tearing  down 
elements. 

All  these  agents  act  directly  upon  the  nervous  sys- 
tem, and  the  lower  mind  or  Intellect,  when  once 
accustomed  to  them,  uses  the  most  eloquent  plead- 
ings for  their  continuance.  Arguments  of  all  kinds 
are  set  up  by  Intellect,  whenever  the  Real  Man  en- 
deavors to  shake  them  off. 

Good  resolutions  are  often  made  each  day,  and  the 
efforts  made  by  the  individual  to  be  free,  are  many 
times  heart-rending  to  mortal  sense,  and  it  is  sad  to 
observe  that  in  the  majority  of  cases,  the  lower  mind 
succeeds,  with  persuasive  argument,  in  breaking  down 
the  good  resolutions  day  by  day,  until  finally  the 
stored-up  abuse  of  the  beautiful  machinery,  calls  for 
immediate  settlement. 

Some  slight  attack  of  disorder,  and  the  bodily  vital- 
ity being  gone,  the  patient  cannot  rally  and  the  man 
dismisses  this  body  to  try  Life  upon  another  plane. 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT.E. 


99 


Every  individual  is  an  individual,  and  their 
decision  as  to  what  is  best  for  them  must  be  respected. 
If  a man  chooses  to  steaddy  employ  some  foreign  agent 
like  whisky,  tobacco,  or  their  kind,  for  the  neutraliz- 
ing of  his  healthy  growth,  he  must  be  allowed  to 
do  so. 

He  is  governed  by  motives  which  will  wipe  away 
the  physical  body  and  make  room  for  another,  if  he 
continues  to  permit  their  control.  But  thank  God, 
Man,  when  he  wakes  from  his  sleep  of  sense  control, 
and  knows  himself  as  Soul,  Mind,  Spirit,  and  one 
with  God,  assumes  control,  becomes  quickly  con- 
scious of  Power  over  all  inharmonious  thought  forces, 
and  that  he  is  free. 

By  living  a life  in  harmony  with  Divine  Love  and 
Law  he  will  continue  to  manifest  Life  on  this  plane 
until  fully  ripe,  90  or  perhaps  100  years  old,  at  which 
time  Life  endows  him  with  the  motive  rather  to  hope 
for  a change,  as  he  is  ripe  and  ready  to  simply  become 
conscious  of  his  possession  of  the  new  body,  which  to 
him  is  a glorious  Life  renewed  ; while  the  animal 
senses  of  his  brothers  call  it  death  or  annihilation. 

Every  now  and  then  a newspaper  item  re- 
counts the  death  of  some  old  man  at  from  90  to  100 
years,  who  had  used  tobacco  and  whisky  all  his  life. 
Whereupon  a great  many  men  and  youths  who  read 
the  article  take  unto  themselves  new  hope  and  say, 
“There,  that  is  proof  that  there  is  no  harm  in  these 
things  except  as  people  think  so.  It  is  my  infernal 
stomach  (or  head  or  heart  or  bowels  etc. , etc. ) which 
is  radically  wrong  and  cuts  up  these  occasional  rows, 
and  they  would  do  it  whether  I use  a little  whisky 


IOO 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


and  tobacco  or  not  ; really  a little  of  these  now  and 
then  helps  me  stand  the  disorders.”  Poor  fool!  let 
him  alone  until  principle  mellows  him.  He  will  some- 
time know  that  a nervous  system  disarranged  by  even 
slight  doses  of  these  poisons,  and  at  intervals  wide 
apart,  will  let  the  body  go  on  in  fair  style  for  a time, 
but  all  the  while  the  abuse  is  being  stored  up,  and 
suddenly  it  breaks  out  in  stomach,  weak  heart,  weak 
lungs,  kidney  disease,  rheumatism,  or  some  one  of  the 
thousand  and  one  disorders,  all  of  which  exist  because 
of  a weakened,  nervous  system,  and  cannot  exist  when 
that  system  is  in  perfect  balance. 

The  occasional  man,  who  has  the  constitution  of  a 
pine  knot,  and  can  withstand  the  depressing  effects  of 
these  poisons  for  years,  does  more  harm  in  letting  it 
be  known  than  can  be  computed.  For  the  many 
hundreds  of  would-be  imitators  are  endowed  with  no 
such  powers,  and  are  physically  much  inferior ; there- 
fore the  effect  of  the  poisons  is  much  more  quickly 
and  plainly  apparent,  and  the  law  of  the  “ survival  of 
the  fittest  ” becomes  manifest. 

Tobacco  and  whisky  are  active  agents  in  the 
work  they  have  in  hand.  No  man  should  be  denied 
his  privilege  as  a free  individual  to  use  them  as  much 
and  as  hard  as  he  cares  to.  There  are  many  cases 
where  he  works  much  misery  and  distress  to  the  inno- 
cent ones  dependent  on  him,  and  the  sweet  little  prat- 
tling child  given  into  his  custody  for  a time  is  grievously 
wronged  by  the  thief.  But,  thank  God,  in  spite  of  the 
atrocities  and  stealing  from  the  little  ones,  the  with- 
holding of  tender  affection  that  is  their  due,  no  whisky- 
loaded  or  tobacco-drunken  parent  can  harm  or  smirch 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT,E. 


IOI 


the  God-life.  The  higher  mind  is  the  true  being  of 
the  child,  and  it  is  the  life  that  the  earthly  father  neither 
has  the  power  to  given  or  to  take  away,  or  permanently 
to  harm.  The  human  intellect  shrinks  and  hides  its  face 
in  terror  from  the  scenes  of  distress,  injustice,  and 
human  woe  forced  upon  the  innocent  one  by  the  mes- 
merized fools  who  permit  themselves  to  be  used  as 
tools  to  demonstrate  the  seeming  force  of  evil  as 
massed  under  the  heads  of  the  two  great  negatives, 
levelers,  destroyers,  whisky  and  tobacco. 

The  principle  of  individual  liberty  is  a principle 
which  exists  as  one  of  the  foundation  laws.  Therefore 
whenever  a man  is  so  circumstanced  that  he  can  yield 
himself  over  to  these  tearing-down  influences  without 
working  a harm  to  others  dependent  on  him,  he  should 
be  permitted  to  stuff  his  mortal  body  full  and  wipe  it 
out  of  physical  manifestation  as  soon  as  he  chooses. 

It  is  quite  certain  that  if  he  elects  to  use  them 
even  “very  moderately,”  they  will  exact  pay  of  some 
sort,  — weak  stomach,  heart  failure,  bowel  troubles, 
consumption,  paralysis,  tumors,  cancer,  etc.,  etc.,  are 
directly  traceable  to  a depleted  system,  kept  in  a 
weakened  condition  from  day  to  day  by  small  doses 
of  poison,  and  the  mesmerized  fool  will  argue  with 
himself  each  day  that  “ it  is  not  tobacco  that  hurts 
my  stomach  (or  heart  or  head,  etc.,  etc.,  etc.),  but 
the  stomach  itself  is  wrong,  and  I must  take  a good 
tonic  to  build  it  up  (so  it  can  be  knocked  down 
again). 

This  process  of  logic  is  almost  universal  among 
the  mesmerized  persons  who  are  under  the  spell.  They 
are  constantly  telling  themselves  and  their  friends 


102 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


that  they  “use  very  little,”  and  “can  leave  it  off  any 
time  they  choose,”  etc.,  etc.  ; but  when  they  make  the 
effort  they  find  they  are  under  hypnotic  influence  and 
cannot  break  away  from  the  control,  except  when 
they  rise  up  in  their  -might  and  know  that  the  influ- 
ence is  caused  by  the  lower  or  mesmeric  intellect, 
aided  by  the  floating  thought  forces  of  others  in  an 
effort  to  rule  the  higher  mind. 

Once  man  knows  that  the  pleading  desire,  and  cun- 
ning mental  arguments  are  all  claims  of  evil,  demand- 
ing his  recognition,  he  will  quickly  kill  them  off,  and 
decide  to  follow  the  natural  law  of  life,  and  stay  here 
on  earth  until  he  ripens  in  the  way  intended. 

Heaven  is  right  here,  when  we  live  according  to 
the  simple  laws  of  nature  ; but  the  counterfeit  of 
peace,  gained  by  tobacco  and  whisky,  is  uncovered 
sooner  than  we  expect,  and  the  expose  is  a clever 
taste  of  hell. 

It  is  ail  incontrovertible  fact  that  natural  liv- 
ing brings  Heaven.  Unnatural  living  brings  hell,  sure 
and  unfailing. 

You  cannot  change  this  law  but  you  have  the  right 
to  choose  your  own  way.  Put  yourself  in  a mesmeric 
condition  and  play  the  fool  and  traitor,  or  be  free  and 
with  the  wisdom  of  the  unconsciously  guided  animal, 
be  happy,  be  really  happy  each  day,  in  the  full  pos- 
session of  unbounded  health,  feeling  so  good  that  you 
“could  jump  over  a house.”  The  man  who  will  trade 
that  condition  off  for  the  temporary  deadening  effect 
of  a little  poison  is  not  himself ; he  is  under  a spell, 
but  must  be  allowed  to  use  his  own  will  to  stay  there, 
or  break  it  and  be  free. 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT M*  10$ 

It  is  the  keen  ones,  the  bright,  active  fellows  who 
must  keep  their  hand  on  the  lever  of  the  higher 
power,  to  kill  off  the  oft-repeated  attacks  of  the 
lower  mind  in  its  effort  to  nullify,  to-  check  their 
progress. 

When  any  great  progressive  step  is  accomplished 
by  an  individual,  corporation,  or  nation,  close  attend- 
ing is  some  negative  influence  which  will  surely  de- 
stroy and  tear  down,  unless  special  provision  be  made 
to  store  away  energy  and  power  during  the  prosper- 
ous times  of  health  and  well-being  sufficient  to  hold 
the  advanced  position  gained. 

Many  a brilliant  man  frills  out  of  the  ranks 
all  too  soon,  when  the  smiles  of  fortune  seem  turned 
toward  him  from  every  direction.  The  little  mice 
called  whisky,  tobacco,  and  excessive  sexuality  have 
gnawed  too  many  holes  in  the  bottom  of  the  wheat 
bin,  and  they  cannot  be  stopped  up  in  time  to  save 
a collapse. 

Thank  God  that  our  bright  ones  will  reach  a plane 
sometime,  where  the  hellions  cannot  find  them,  and 
after  the  tremendous  fire  test  they  have  gone 
through  with  on  the  mortal  plane,  they  will  come 
to  themselves  finally,  having  earned  their  knowledge 
by  the  heavy  blows  of  the  tempering  hammer  of  ex- 
perience. 

The  law  of  unfoldment  permits  a grand  physical  and 
mental  state.  When  man  will  use  his  endowment  of 
the  higher  mind  to  guide  him  free  from  the  destructive 
motives,  a few  generations  wherein  these  motives  are 
avoided  will  result  in  magnificent  specimens  set  well 
along  to  the  front  in  the  eternal  pathway  of  progress. 


104 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


Divine  Principle,  Life,  is  universal  law,  and  is  your 
closest  friend.  Stand  with  it  always.  It  is  in  no 
sense  vindictive,  but  you  must  run  your  lines  parallel 
to  receive  the  bounties,  and  they  are  health,  content, 
peace  and  prosperity. 

General  Laws  of  Health. — There  are  many 
hundred  laws  of  health,  so  called,  that  are  arranged 
and  dictated  by  man.  The  great  mass  of  these  are 
the  most  arrant  sort  of  nonsense ; but  it  was  said 
many  years  ago  in  Scripture,  that  “as  a man  think- 
eth,  so  is  he  ” and  that,  “ When  you  know  the  Truth, 
the  Truth  will  make  you  free.” 

You  will  find  that  as  a man  listens  to  the  laws  of 
health  laid  down  by  many  physicians,  and  others,  and 
accepts  them  as  authority,  .to  him  they  become  real , 
and  he  is  from  that  time  more  or  less  subject  to  these 
laws  until  he  breaks  them,  and  dismisses  them  from  his 
consciousness. 

There  are  a few  laws,  however,  that  are  laid  down 
by  the  Father,  but  they  are  very  simple  and  easily 
understood.  If  one  will  observe  the  daily  habits  of 
our  domestic  animals,  they  can  gather  much  knowl- 
edge in  the  way  of  the  plain  laws  laid  down  by  the 
Father. 

For  instance,  a dyspeptic  may  find  that  the  cow 
seems  to  have  no  thought  or  fear  for  the  morrow,  or 
where  its  food  will  come  from.  She  eats  at  any  time, 
during  daylight,  that  she  feels  so  disposed.  She  has 
never  one  thought  of  fear  but  that  her  stomach  will 
care  for  what  she  puts  there.  She  unconsciously 
leaves  that  work  to  Life,  or  God,  with  the  easy  as- 
surance that  all  is  well,  and  will  be  well.  When 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT\E. 


05 


night  comes,  she  understands  that  the  darkness  is 
intended  as  an  indication  of  the  time  for  her  species 
to  sleep.  In  contrast  to  this  natural  condition,  we 
find  that  man,  with  his  marvelous  power  to  create 
conditions,  has  first  permitted  his  mind  to  make  pict- 
ures of  worry;  that  he  has  only  a limited  time  to  live  ; 
that  he  must  work  mentally  and  physically  under  a 
strain,  that  unless  he  does  such  a stint  of  work,  and 
makes  about  so  much  money,  he  is  liable  to  come  to 
want  and  distress. 

He  therefore  works  under  pressure,  and  sees  many 
evil  things  in  his  pathway  that  fret  and  annoy  him. 
From  these  mental  causes,  the  natural,  perfect  balance 
of  the  nervous  system  is  disturbed,  and  the  stomach 
lacks  its  perfect  rhythm,  ‘failing  to  do  its  work.  He 
thereupon  concludes  that  the  stomach  is  at  fault,  and 
he  must  eat  less.  Then  some  vegetarian  crank  tells 
him  he  must  live  on  oatmeal  and  Graham  bread  ; 
that  he  has  been  abusing  his  stomach  with  meat  and 
other  edibles. 

Finally  some  sanitarium  physician,  or  some 
publication  on  health,  warns  him.  that  man  should 
eat  but  twice  a day,  and  if  he  drinks  milk,  should 
work  his  jaws  so  that  the  gastric  juices  will  run  down 
into  the  stomach  and  digest  the  milk.  Here  he  is 
surrounded  with  a web.  Man  makes  laws  which  are 
false  from  beginning  to  end,  but  are  actual  facts  to 
every  man  or  woman  who  believe  in  them. 

Dyspeptics,  as  well  as  all  other  invalids,  must 
first  correct  the  cause  of  his  trouble,  which  in  nearly 
all  cases  originates  in  a disturbed,  unnatural  condition 
of  the  nervous  system,  and  this  is  directly  controlled 


io  6 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


by  the  animal  intellect,  or  as  many  call  it,  the  mortal 
mind.  When  this  mortal  mind  is  controlled  by  the 
higher  mind,  and  put  into  a condition  of  ease  and 
peace,  and  its  many  laws  of  disorder,  distress,  disease 
are  thrown  down  and  destroyed,  so  that  the  real  man 
may  be  free,  then  a condition  of  ease,  comfort,  and 
harmony  is  set  up  mentally,  which  is  at  once  taken 
up  by  the  nervous  system,  and  as  this  system  begins 
to  beat  in  perfect  rhythm,  all  parts  of  the  body  gradu- 
ally wheel  round  into  a condition  of  perfect  health. 
“Know  the  truth,  and  the  truth  shall  make  you  free.” 

Some  of  the  real  laws  of  the  Father  are  nearly 
as  follows  : Your  body  requires  a sufficient  amount  of 

nourishing  food,  taken  at  such  times  as  it  seems  to  be 
needed.  It  should  not  be  taken  in  great  loads,  and 
then  allow  a long  time  to  intervene  before  you  take 
in  another  load,  but  if  the  body  has  been  in  a condi- 
tion of  so-called  dyspepsia,  it  should  be  fed  fairly 
upon  rising  in  the  morning,  then  a small  quantity  of 
some  sort  of  food  at  say  half  past  ten  or  eleven 
o’clock.  A medium-sized  dinner  at  half  past  twelve, 
perhaps,  then  a little  food  at  half  past  four  or  five, 
and  a medium  supper  at  the  usual  time,  six  or  seven, 
as  the  case  may  be. 

These  moderate-sized  quantities  of  food,  taken  at 
frequent  intervals,  will  sustain  and  build  up  the  tissues 
of  the  body  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  stomach  may 
complain  in  many  ways,  but  we  find  as  we  demand 
natural,  harmonious  work  of  any  part  of  the  body, 
because  we  know  the  higher  law , that  gradually  the 
body,  or  its  immediate  governor,  the  human  intellect, 
gives  up  the  fight,  and  accepts  the  situation. 


OR  SCIENTIA  VITJE. 


107 


After  your  meals,  do  not  sit  down  by  your- 
self and  begin  to  roll  your  thought  into  the  body, 
for  just  so  sure  as  you  do  this,  the  lower  mind  will 
begin  to  question  and  make  up  laws  of  distress  and 
inharmony.  Go  right  out,  after  your  meal,  and  busy 
yourself  about  something  physically.  When  you  feel 
like  sitting  down,  look  out  for  your  enemy,  mortal 
mind.  Take  this  book  and  read  a few  facts,  so  as  to 
keep  your  true  self  up  out  of  the  lower  self. 

You  will  find  that  as  long  as  you  can  be  conscious 
that  you  are  Soul,  Spirit,  and  not  body,  all  will  go 
well.  Keep  busy.  The  teaching  of  nature  is  that  all 
the  manifestations  of  God  are  doing  some  sort  of  work 
physically,  from  the  blades  of  grass  up,  and  the  teach- 
ing also  is  of  a natural  desire  for  variety  ; therefore, 
after  you  have  been  busy  on  one  line  for  a time, 
change  your  occupation  so  as  to  give  your  mentality  a 
variety. 

Do  not  confine  yourself  to  physical  work,  nor  to 
mental  work,  but  indulge  in  both  freely.  As  the 
mind  demands  use  of  the  physical  members  of 
the  body,  they  gradually  respond  more  and  more 
freely  to  that  demand.  This  is  true  of  the  brain.  As 
the  mind  which  dwells  outside  of,  and  above,  the 
brain,  demands  exercise  of  that  organ  and  use  of  it, 
under  the  law  of  harmony,  it  will  respond  and  grow 
steadily  in  power  and  strength. 

Do  not  ever  believe  you  are  losing  your  mind.  To 
lose  the  higher  mind*  is  an  impossibility,  because 
that  is  you,  and  that  is  one  with  Life,  the  Father, 
those  who  seem  to  have  “lost  their  minds,”  as  the 
the  common  saying  is,  have  simply  lived  so  far  apart 


io8 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


from  the  beautiful  law  of  harmony  and  health,  that 
parts  of  their  physical  structure,  for  instance,  certain 
lobes  of  the  brain,  may  have  broken  down,  and 
have  lost  enough  of  the  grey  matter  to  be  in  an  im- 
perfect state.  Thereupon,  according  to  the  law  of 
the  Father,  the  mortal  mind  declines  to  act  harmo- 
niously or  naturally  upon  that  sort  of  brain,  and  the 
result  we  see  in  the  people  whose  condition  is  known 
as  non  compos  mentis. 

Mind  is  never  lost  or  impaired ; but  it  is  fur- 
ther true  that  a person  whose  brain  is  reduced  in  power 
can  be  put  in  harmony  so  that  the  machinery  of  the 
body  works  as  it  should,  the  grey  matter  is  built  into 
the  brain  just  as  quickly  and  just  as  perfectly  as  into 
any  part  of  the  body  ; and  when  this  result  is  reached, 
a condition  of  perfect  mental  power  becomes  mani- 
fest. 

Water  should  be  taken  many  times  a day.  Do  not 
gorge  the  stomach  with  fluid  at  the  meals.  Let  a 
little  be  taken,  if  needed  ; but  who  ever  saw  a natural 
animal  take  a mouthful  of  food,  then  rush  to " the 
stream  and  drink  a large  quantity  of  water,  then  back 
to  the  food  again,  then  back  to  the  water  repeatedly. 
The  drinking  of  water  should  be  distributed  along 
through  the  day,  and  it  is  unnecessary  to  state  that 
the  drinking  of  extremely  cold  water,  or  unusually  hot 
water,  is  not  according  to  the  law  of  harmony.  Man 
was  expected  to  drink  water  as  it  was  prepared  for 
him  by  the  Father,  about  the  temperature  of  the  run- 
ning stream,  or  such  as  we  get  from  the  well. 

The  drinking  of  coffee  is  forbidden  to  pa- 
tients under  treatment  in  this  line,  for  the  reason  that 


OR  SCIENTIA  VITJE. 


iog 


it  is  an  unnatural  stimulant.  This  fact  can  be  ascer- 
tained by  any  competent  person  who  will  examine 
the  heart’s  action  after  one  or  two  cups  of  coffee 
have  been  taken. 

It  is  true  that  many  healthy  people  drink  coffee  to 
a good  old  age,  and  are  able  to  withstand  the  unnatu- 
ral effect,  but  the  patient  who  is  not  in  perfect  har- 
mony, is  warned  against  this  indulgence. 

Man  being  a composite  of  carniverous,  or  flesh-eat- 
ing, and  of  the  vegetarian  animal,  is  expected  to 
follow  their  habits  more  or  less.  We  find  the  cat  spe- 
cies, dog,  lion,  leopards,  and  other  animals,  that  eat 
both  meat  and  vegetables,  are  inclined  to  sleep  more 
or  less  during  the  day,  and  to  remain  awake  a portion 
of  the  night.  This  law,  which  is  a natural  one  to  that 
sort  of  species,  permits  man  to  use  a part  of  the  night 
in  a wakeful  condition,  and  remain  in  harmony,  but 
it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  if  he  is  able,  a little 
sleep  in  the  daytime  is  entirely  in  the  line  of  nature  ; 
and  while  the  habit  of  more  sleep,  or  little,  can  be 
cultivated,  the  ones  who  take  about  seven  or  eight 
hours  sleep  in  the  twenty-four,  seem  to  strike  the 
happy  medium. 

Above  all  things,  realize  that  you  are  a free  Spirit 
to  do  as  you  wish , so  long  as  you  stick  to  the  general 
law  of.  harmony.  Never  admit  that  you  cannot  eat 
this  or  that  when  the  article  spoken  of  is  edible  food 
and  suitable  for  mankind.  You  can  go  without  food, 
water,  or  sleep  for  a considerable  length  of  time,  if 
necessary,  when  you  are  consciously  dwelling  in  the 
power  of  the  Spirit.  If  you  are  caught  in  a rain,  or 
subjected  to  unexpected  cold,  heat,  or  draughts,  you 


IO 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


can  make  your  body,  to  a great  degree,  impervious  to 
their  effects,  having  the  right  and  power  to  rule  over 
the  body  and  keep  it  in  perfect  condition,  even  when 
the  natural  laws  of  health  seem  to  be  broken  for  the 
time  ; but  if  you  attempt  to  do  unnatural  things  will- 
fully, taking  tobacco,  whisky,  coffee,  etc.,  feeling  that 
you  have  the  power  to  rule  over  them,  you  will  finally 
discover  that  they  are  hurtful ; and  a continued  break- 
ing of  the  peaceful  laws  made  by  the  Father  will 
bring  you  to  a consciousness  of  trouble. 

The  recuperative  power  of  the  Father, 
as  manifested  in  the  human  body,  is  so  great  that 
although  the  patient  knows  nothing  of  the  higher 
law,  if  by  chance  he  lives  a natural  life,  the  evils  of 
heredity,  even  blood  poisoning  of  the  most  virulent 
character,  will  be  finally  eliminated  by  the  natural 
action  and  cleansing  operations  of  the  machinery  of 
the  body  when  working  in  harmony.  This  result  is 
attained  in  a vastly  less  space  of  time  when  the 
machine  is  set  in  motion  and  controlled  by  a con- 
scious knowledge  of  power  of  Spirit,  which  is  the 
real  man.  Drop  all  fear ; it  is  an  element  of  the 
one  evil,  the  lower  mind,  when  out  of  harmony. 

Real  Sickness  vs.  Imagination. — Nearly  all 
persons,  when  they  come  under  mental  treatment 
for  their  troubles,  feel  a certain  amount  of  pride 
about  what  people  will  say.  This  is  about  the 
way  their  thought  runs  : “If  I take  possession  of 
myself  according  to  this  line  of  practice,  and  dismiss 
my  troubles  so  that  I get  well,  people  will  say  that  I 
was  not  really  sick,  but  just  imagined  I was  sick. 
I do  n’t  want  them  to  feel  that  I lack  will  power, 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT.E. 


I I I 

and  was  weak  enough  to  just  imagine  myself  into  a 
condition  of  sickness.  I want  them  to  know  that  / 
really  was  sick , and  I am  very  much  afraid  that  if  I 
should  get  well  by  this  method,  I will  always  be  looked 
upon  as  a person  who  was  deceived,  both  by  the 
sickness  and  the  recovery.”  This  is  the  voice  of  the 
weak,  lower  mind  of  the  animal.  Let  it  be  known, 
once  for  all,  that  all  cases  of  disease  in  man,  whether 
of  so-called  stomach  trouble,  bowel  trouble,  consump- 
tion, cancer,  heart-disease,  rheumatism,  or  what  not, 
are  the  result  of  mental  conditions  of  inharmony. 
The  dead  material  of  which  the  body  is  made,  can 
originate  and  produce  nothing.  They  all,  each  and 
every  one,  come  from  one  source.  They  cannot  ex- 
ist when  the  mortal  mind  is  put  in  an  easy,  perfect 
condition,  so  that  its  immediate  servant,  the  nervous 
system,  follows  the  same  law. 

All  of  ‘these  things  disappear  under  a condition  of 
harmony.  They  exist  and  do  their  work  only  under 
a condition  of  mental  inharmony,  so  that  the  patient 
may  rest  assured  that  no  invalid  has  the  best  of  him  on 
the  theory  of  imagination.  They  are  in  a mesmeric 
condition  from  one  end  to  the  other,  and  this  fact  is 
demonstrable  in  a most  thoroughly  scientific  manner. 

The  writer  has  in  mind  a case  of  a person  lifted 
from  a death  bed  through  <fScientia  Vitae,”  and  who 
became  round,  fat,  and  rosy,  quickly.  When  he  met 
the  old  associates  on  the  street  and  told  them  of  his 
sudden  cure  through  mental  science,  they  looked 
embarrassed,  as  much  as  to  say,  ‘ ‘ Poor  fellow,  you 
were  fooled.”  Reading  their  thoughts,  as  any  one 
can  much  more  readily  do  after  a study  of  mental 


I 12 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


science,  his  customary  expression  was,  “ My  dear  fel- 
low, I know  what  you  are  thinking  of,  but  let  me 
tell  you  one  thing  earnestly,  and  as  a fact, — I at 
one  time  was  just  as  crazy  as  you  are  now,  but  I 
have  learned  some  facts  that  put  me  above  the  con- 
dition of  animal  mesmerism  that  you  are  in.  When 
you  know  as  much,  these  things  will  be  plain  to  you.” 

Treatment. — “As  a man  thinketh  in  his  heart,  so 
is  he.  ” 

If  I have  been  mistakenly  taught  to  look  upon  my- 
self as  a “poor,  weak  sinner,”  I know  better  now. 

The  Son  of  God  never  was  and  never  is  a “ poor, 
weak  sinner.  ” 

The  fleeting  shadow  on  the  lower  plane  may  get 
into  many  conditions  of  intellect  that  seem  sinful,  but 
I am  a Prince  of  the  Kingdom  of  eternal  Life ; and 
knowing  this,  I never  permit  tales  of  the  lower  sense 
world  (where  the  animal  man  and  intellect  dwells) 
to  force  mental  pictures  of  evil  on  my  mentality. 
When  I still  the  will  and  voice  of  self,  and  know  my- 
self as  one  with  God,  then  from  out  the  silence  comes 
the  soft  breathings  of  the  Supreme,  which  I drink  in 
eagerly,  but  quietly,  gaining  thereby  Intelligence, 
Peace,  and  Health. 

My  communion  with  my  Father  is  plain  and  inex- 
pressibly sweet  to  me,  but  is  not  of  the  earth,  and 
therefore  could  not  well  be  explained  to  earthly  men  ; 
for,  “The  Natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of 
the  Spirit  of  God ; for  they  are  foolishness  unto  him, 
neither  can  he  know  them,  because  they  are  spirit- 
ually discerned.”  i Cor.  2:14. 


OR  SCIENTIA  VITiE. 


I 13 

Be  Content. — Do  not  chafe  and  fret  because  you 
do  not  make  money  faster,  advance  quicker  socially, 
or  fail  to  force  events  to  your  special  liking.  Realize 
that  your  body  is  one  of  God’s  manifestations  of  the 
Divine  Power  and  Energy  and,  while  you  do  quietly 
and  peacefully  just  what  seems  best  for  you  to  do, 
without  fear  or  anxiety,  you  are  carrying  out  the  law 
in  harmony,  and  the  great  Good  and  good  things  will 
flow  to  you. 

Let  the  nervous,  anxious  man  or  woman  but  real- 
ize this,  and  further,  that  all  laws  are  finished  ; the 
great  Universe  is  complete,  and  he  or  she  might  as 
well  take  things  easy,  as  we  are  living  right  along  in 
eternity  now ; the  real  man  never  dies  ; and  harm  or 
evil  is  only  harm  and  evil  to  the  distorted  view  of  the 
human  intellect.  Let  us  take  the  change  of  events 
philosophically,  they  are  simply  steps  from  one  men- 
tal state  of  understanding  or  knowledge  to  another. 

When  we  fret  and  worry,  we  “deny  the  Christ” 
or  the  Life, — that  is,  we  lose  sight  of  our  true  place, 
our  true  Being.  We  are  one  with  God,  even  though 
but  dimly  conscious  of  it.  Therefore  we  are  in  real- 
ity always  safe,  and  have  not  one  thing  to  fret  or 
worry  over. 

It  is  impossible  to  worry  unless  we  have,  for  the 
time  being,  fallen  from  our  true  estate  of  conscious 
mental  union  with  Divine  Good. 

When  dwelling  in  the  lower  mind,  and  admitting 
that  things  are  wrong  and  will  harm  us,  and  that  we 
must  worry,  etc. , etc. , we  make  a definite  denial  of  the 
Christ  principle. 


8 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


114 

Jesus  the  Christ,  who  was  the  most  perfect  repre- 
sentative of  the  Life  Principle,  which  is  God  the 
Father,  was  and  is  the  greatest  teacher  we  have  ever 
known.  He  says  that  if  you  deny  Christ,  Christ  will 
also  deny  you. 

The  statement  is  easily  proven  true.  When  you 
worry,  fret,  and  lose  sight  of  your  true  self,  and 
take  up  with  the  lower  self,  you  suffer  in  proportion. 
When  such  times  come,  quickly  acknowledge  God  as 
your  Life,  and  your  worry  and  illness  will  float  away. 
Try  it. 

If  we  remember  that  the  Father  made  all  things 
for  our  good,  and  has  arranged  the  kindliest  laws  for 
protection  and  comfort ; and  that  we  are  wholly  depend- 
ent on  beneficent  Life  for  every  movement  of  even  our 
little  finger,  then,  we  will  not  doubt  or  deny  the  Christ 
(Life)  (which  is  our  true  selfhood),  and  its  power  to 
protect  us  fully  and  never  to  fail  under  any  circum- 
stances or  happening. 

“Yes,”  you  say,  “ But  we  do  receive  harm,  people 
do  get  killed,”  etc.,  etc. 

You  show  that  you  view  things  from  a low,  animal 
stage,  which  esteems  death  or  hurt  to  the  mud  doll 
(body)  as  a thing  to  be  greatly  dreaded,  the  dread 
being  based  upon  the  supposition  that  death  to  body 
means  annihilation  of  the  individual ; that  you  ‘ ‘ have 
but  this  one  life,”  and  when  it  is  gone,  you  have  lost 
all,  etc.,  etc. 

Mind  exists  on  a separate  plane  from  body,  and 
cannot  be  harmed  or  hurt  in  any  way  by  any  happen- 
ing to  compositions  of  mud  and  water  or  any  other 
material.  You , the  real  man,  exist  now  and  here,  as 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT.E. 


1 1 5 

mind;  you  temporarily  are  managing  a material  body, 
much  as  a trainer  drives  and  trains  a horse. 

You  cannot  be  hurt  or  injured  in  any  way, 
so  be  at  peace  and  dismiss  all  fear. 

If  the  author  were  a theologian,  he  would  say  that 
fear  was  the  strongest  weapon  of  the  Devil. 

Fear  that  things  won’t  go  right,  that  we  or  our 
friends  will  be  hurt,  produces  worry  and  anxiety, 
which  is  inharmony,  and  throws  the  nervous  system 
out  of  balance.  The  results  are  shown  in  many  ways. 

Henry  Wood,  in  the  Arena  says  : — 

“Mental  causation  is  abundantly  proved  by  the 
well-known  effects  of  fear,  anger,  envy,  anxiety,  and 
other  passions  and  emotions  upon  the  physical  organ- 
ism. Acute  fear  will  paralyze  the  nerve  centers  and 
sometimes  turn  the  hair  white  in  a single  night.  A 
mother’s  milk  can  be  poisoned  by  a fit  of  anger.  An 
eminent  writer,  Dr.  Tuke,  enumerates  among  the 
direct  products  of  fear,  insanity,  idiocy,  paralysis  of 
various  muscles  and  organs,  profuse  perspiration, 
cholerina,  jaundice,  sudden  decay  of  teeth,  fatal  ec- 
zema, skin  disease,  erysipelas  and  eczema.  By  infal- 
lible law,  mental  states  are  mirrored  upon  the  body, 
but  because  the  process  is  complex  and  gradual,  we 
fail  to  observe  the  connection.  Mind  translates  itself 
into  flesh  and  blood.  What  must  be  the  physical  re- 
sult upon  humanity  of  thousands  of  years  of  chronic 
fearing,  sinning,  selfishness,  anxiety,  and  unnumbered 
other  morbid  conditions  ? These  are  all  the  time  pull- 
ing down  the  cells  and  tissues,  which  only  divine, 
harmonious  and  wholesome  thought  can  build  up.  Is 
it  surprising  that  no  one  is  perfectly  healthy  ? If  man 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


I 16 

were  not  linked  to  God,  and  unconsciously  receiving 
an  inflow  of  recuperative  vital  force,  the  multitudinous 
destroyers  would  soon  disintegrate  his  physical  organ- 
ism. Can  the  building  forces  be  strengthened,  stimu- 
lated, and  made  more  harmonious  and  divine?  — Yes, 
through  mind.  The  mind  surely  but  unconsciously 
pervades  every  physical  tissue  with  its  vital  influence, 
and  is  present  in  every  function,  throbbing  in  the 
heart,  breathing  in  the  lungs,  and  weaving  its  own 
quality  into  nutrition,  assimilation,  sensation,  and 
motion.” 

“Know  the  Truth,  and  the  Truth  shall  make 

you  free.” 

God  placed  us  here  in  a perfect  Heaven.  It  is  often 
made  a seeming  hell  by  human  intellect,  but  it  is  a 
most  delightful  Heaven,  nevertheless,  to  all  who  live 
in  full  harmony  and  accord  with  the  easy  and  wise 
law  of  the  Father. 

We  were  not  consulted  in  the  selection  of  anything 
connected  with  our  appearance  here.  We  are  here , 
and  have  had  no  way  to  avoid  it.  We  are  surrounded 
on  all  sides  with  the  most  beautiful  and  perfect  ar- 
rangements for  our  pleasure  and  happiness. 

God’s  law  says  we  must  eat  food.  Is  it  arranged 
by  Divine  Energy  that  it  will  be  an  irksome,  disa- 
greeable task  to  comply  with  its  mandates  ? Is  it  not 
rather  a fact  that  all  the  operations  surrounding  the 
act  of  eating  are  so  delicately  and  lovingly  arranged 
that  man  gladly  obeys  the  law  ? He  wants  to  ; he 
will  manage  in  every  way  possible  to  comply  with  the 
law. 

Does  he  hate  this  law  fixed  by  the  Father  ? When 


OR  SCIENTIA  VITiE.  I I 7 

hungry,  there  comes  mental  expectancy,  a delight. 
The  delicious  sensations  to  tongue  and  palate  caused 
by  the  taste  of  food,  are  not  mere  happenings  ; they 
are  ordained  by  the  great  Wisdom  that  man  may  be 
happy  in  following  the  law. 

So  with  other  laws  pertaining  to  man’s  exist- 
ence on  the  present  plane.  He  must  drink  water,  the 
law  says  so.  Do  you  have  to  drive  him  to  obey  God’s 
law  that  a thirsty  man  shall  drink  water  ? Prevent 
him  if  you  can,  when,  after  a long  tramp  on  a hot 
day  he  comes  to  one  of  God’s  springs  of  sparkling 
water  hidden  in  a leaf-sheltered  nook  by  the  roadside. 
Leaning  over  he  sees  the  clear  fluid,  mirror-like  and 
cold  in  its  bed  of  shining  pebbles,  while  as  it  trickles 
over  the  rocky,  narrow  outlet,  it  seems  to  whisper 
in  its  low  liquid  chatter,  “ I am  a love  gift  sent  to 
make  you  happy  and  to  help  teach  that  the  sole  object 
which  inspires  the  One  who  sent  me  is  the  peace, 
content  and  happiness  of  his  children.” 

A man  in  describing  his  feeling  on  the  plains  while 
hunting,  said,  “In  the  morning  I rolled  out  of  my 
blanket  early  and  standing  on  my  feet,  drew  in  the 
pure  air  time  and  again  until  my  whole  body  felt  the 
slight  thrills  of  pleasure,  and  I felt  it  was  glorious 
enough  to  be  simply  conscious  that  I was  alive . ” 
Did  that  man  feel  that  it  was  an  ugly  and  hated  task 
to  follow  the  dictates  of  Universal  Law,  when  that 
law  dictated  that  man  must  breathe  ? — No.  All  laivs 
laid  down  by  Divine  Creative  Mind,  our  producer  and 
Father,  are  a delight  and  pleasure  to  follow.  It  is 
only  Man’s  laws  which  are  irksome,  because  such  laws 
are  always  a departure  from  principle. 


I I 8 NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 

Remember  this  : Every  law  which  is  intended  for 
us  to  exist  under,  is  a delight,  a comfort,  and  blessing 
to  us. 

The  animal,  who  knows  nothing  of  Divine  Life, 
the  Father,  loves  to  follow  the  law  ; he  is  made  that 
way,  and  man  is  not  required  to  screw  himself  all 
out  of  shape  by  trying  to  follow  a lot  of  ridiculous 
laws  which  Moses  and  some  other  mesmerized  indi- 
viduals declare  were  made  by  God.  All  God’s  laws  are 
natural  and  are  sweet  to  all  creation.  Every  creat- 
ure, man  included,  loves  God  more  than  all  else,  be- 
cause God  is  Life  and  Life  is  God. 


il  There  is  no  death  — 

What  seems  so  is  transition; 

This  life  of  mortal  breath 

Is  but  a suburb  of  the  life  Elysian, 

Whose  portal  we  call  Death.” 

— Longfellow. 

THE  HORIZON  LINE. 

“I  watched  a sail  until  it  dropped  from  sight 
Over  the  rounding  sea,  a gleam  of  white, 

A last,  far-flashed  farewell  — and,  like  a thought 
Slipped  out  of  mind,  it  vanished  and  was  not ; 

Yet  to  the  helmsman  standing  at  the  helm 
Broad  seas  still  stretched  before  the  gliding  keel. 
Disaster?  Change?  He  felt  no  slightest  sign 
Nor  dreamed  he  of  that  horizon  line. 

So  may  it  be,  perchance,  when  down  the  tide 
Our  dear  ones  vanish,  peacefully  they  glide 
On  level  seas,  nor  mark  the  unknown  bound. 

We  call  it  Death  ! To  them ’t is  Life  Beyond.” 

— James  Buckman . 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT.E. 


9 


Let  us  try  to  get  a clear  view  of  the  situation. 
We  know  that  the  real  part  of  man  does  not  die  ; it 
is  simply  the  mud  and  water  image  that  is  resolved 
back  to  its  original  state.  As  we  have  been  so  per- 
fectly provided  for  in  this  Heaven  which  we  now  oc- 
cupy, would  it  be  according  to  any  law  we  know  of 
for  us  to  find  in  the  next  higher  stage  of  manifestation 
of  Life,  our  next  plane  of  consciousness,  that  we  were 
imperfectly,  or  poorly  cared  for  ? 

If  God  teaches  us  any  one  thing  clearly,  it  is  the 
law  of  eternal  unfoldment  or  evolution  from  lower  to 
higher  and  more  perfect  states ; gaining  more  power 
and  greater  possibilities  of  happiness  as  we  progress 
from  step  to  step. 

It  is  quite  surely  a fact,  that  if  people  knew  the 
delightful  comfort  of  our  next  manifestation,  they 
would  wipe  out  this  body,  in  order  quickly  to  get  the 
new  one.  But  they  would  discover  their  mistake. 
You  cannot  unnaturally  hurry  the  sturdy  steps  of 
unfoldment.  You  can  only  come  into  the  conscious 
possession  of  the  perfect  body,  when  you  are  ripened 
in  a natural  way  and  have  done  patiently  what  your 
hand  found  to  do. 

By  reference  to  the  perfect  body,  is  meant  the  body 
we  are  now  forming,  of  a material  which  is  of  another 
plane  than  the  material  of  which  this  earth  is  formed. 
We  are  building  this  new  body  daily,  and  it  may  be  a 
mistake  to  call  it  a perfect  body  ; for  it  will  surely  be 
built  either  in  harmony,  or  not  so  perfect,  just  in  cor- 
respondence with  the  mental  life,  whether  of  harmony 
and  good,  or  inharmony  and  so-called  evil. 

It  is  believed  that  a gain  will  be  made  even  in 
the  worst  cases,  as  experience  in  evil  here  always 


120 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


teaches  us  some  bitter  lessons  and  heads  us  back  to  our 
natural  state. 

So  it  seems  that  even  hardened  criminals  will  pos- 
sess a better  body  and  better  mental  state  after  they 
drop  off  this  body,  as  the  sure  trend  is  finally  always 
toward  the  Great  Principle  of  Good. 

Paul  refers  to  this  new  body  in  i Cor.  15:44: 
“There  is  a natural  body,  and  there  is  a spiritual 
body.”  Theosophists  term  the  spiritual  body  the 
“Astral.” 

When  that  change  called  death  takes  place,  we 
simply  become  conscious  of  possession  of  a new  body, 
but  the  time  of  change  you  will  never  know  of. 
You  know  nothing  of  birth  or  coming  into  possession 
of  the  present  body,  so  you  will  know  nothing  of  the 
dismissal  of  this  body. 

This  sort  of  change  comes  to  us  right  here  while  in 
possession  of  the  so-called  natural  body.  When  man 
becomes  clearly  conscious  that  he  is  Soul,  Life,  Mind, 
and  not  body,  he  feels  a change  come  over  him,  a 
happy,  easy  feeling  and  often  a feeling  of  exhilaration. 
The  joy  of  freedom  is  his  ; old  things  and  old  beliefs 
have  passed  away,  he  has  thrown  off  the  “ old  man,” 
and  the  new  man  has  been  born.  Paul  says  in  1 Cor. 
1 5 : 45  (and  very  interesting  reading  it  is  when  un- 
derstood) : ‘ ‘ And  so  it  is  written,  the  first  man  Adam 
was  made  a living  Soul  ; the  last  man  Adam  was  made 
a quickening  spirit.  Howbeit  that  was  not  first  which 
is  spiritual,  but  that  which  is  natural  ; and  afterward 
that  which  is  spiritual. 

“The  first  man  is  of  the  earth,  earthy.  The  second 
man  is  the  Lord  from  Heaven.” 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT.E. 


21 


“True  as  gospel.”  The  man  first  thinks  of  him- 
self. as  body  which  is  of  the  eq.rth,  earthy.  When  the 
second  man  is  born,  or  to  put  it  another  way,  when 
the  man  comes  to  know  himself  as  he  really  is,  Spirit 
and  not  body , that  man  is  really  the  Lord  (ruler)  from 
Heaven  (Harmony).  Know  this , and  power  flows  to 
and  from  you  in  a way  that  will  make  you  stand  in  awe 
of  yourself.  It  is  the  new  condition  that  man  is  just 
being  brought  forward  to  occupy  by  the  never-ceasing 
law  of  progress. 

It  is  the  new  life. 

Some  one  lias  said  that  the  steps  of  progress 
made  in  religion  are  each  one  marked  by  a heretic,  and 
the  reason  is  plain  enough,  for  in  all  progress,  not  only 
of  religion,  but  in  the  arts  and  sciences,  in  medicine, 
surgery,  letters,  and  the  spiritual  progress  of  man,  it 
is  universally  the  case  that  the  advanced  facts  become 
plain  to  one,  or  perhaps  a few  individuals,  months  and 
sometimes  years  before  they  are  plain  to  the  masses, 
and  when  the  individual  dares  to  advance  his  progress- 
ive ideas,  ponderous  truths  although  they  may  be,  he  is 
denounced,  and  oftentimes  reviled  and  abused  by  the 
thicker-headed  ones,  who  are  still  wrapped  in  their  vail, 
and  cannot  see  beyond  the  condition  and  position  that 
has  been  earned  for  them  by  their  parents  and  an- 
cestors. 

The  trials  for  heresy  seem  necessary  to  many  people 
who  consider  the  dogmatic  statements  of  a creed  as  of 
primary  importance  to  the  salvation  of  a soul,  while 
the  individual  who  has  been  sufficiently  ripened  by  the 
divine  Father,  so  that  he  stands  on  the  mountain-top 
above  the  clouds  of  beliefs,  doubts,  ecclesiasticism, 


122 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


and  creeds,  knows  that  the  same  divine  Father  has 
no  knowledge  whatever  of,  nor  does  he  care  for,  the 
complex  religious  teachings  of  men.  It  is  of  no  im- 
portance to  divine  Principle,  Life,  whether  man 
makes  a law  that  his  brother  must  be  baptized  in  order 
that  his  soul  may  be  saved,  or  not.  Life  never  dies, 
and  knows  no  such  thing  as  the  opposite  called  death. 
Soul  is  never  lost , because  it  is  eternal  Life.  The  in- 
dividual Intellect  may  go  through  a mental  hell,  and 
perhaps  many  of  them,  in  the  process  of  refinement, 
but  if  Nature  and  Nature’s  God  teaches  any  one  thing 
absolutely,  it  is  that  nothing  which  is , is  ever  lost  — 
not  one  breath  of  gas,  vapor,  light,  spirit,  soul,  or 
even  material  of  any  sort  or  kind.  There  is  no  such 
thing  as  loss. 

To  the  person  who  is  aware  of  the  higher  facts,  it  is 
a most  laughable  spectacle  to  see  a lot  of  solemn- 
faced men,  who  are  merely  educated  animals,  evolved 
monkeys,  if  you  please,  who  have  discarded  their  tails, 
meet  together,  look  wise,  and  propose  to  try  a brother 
who  claims  to  have  been  opened  to  a little  broader  ray 
of  the  eternal  sunlight  of  Truth,  God.  Their  proceed- 
ings are  of  no  more  moment  than  the  acts  of  a lot  of 
chattering  monkeys  in  tjie  bottom  of  a great  cage, 
where  they  nervously  paw  over  the  straw.  They  peek 
in  curiously  to  see  if  they  may  find  some  nuts,  then 
look  up  with  the  most  solemn  faces  shining  full  of  their 
own  monkey  wisdom,  scratch  themselves,  meet  to- 
gether in  a lfttle  caucus,  chatter  some  more,  then  paw 
the  straw  over  some  more,  and  finally  decide  that  the 
young  monkey  who  claims  to  have  secured  an  abun- 
dance of  nut-kernels  from  some  source,  does  not  know 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT.E. 


123 


what  he  is  talking  about,  and  is  a presuming  fellow 
whom  the  devil  has  got  hold  of,  and  he  must  be  ejected 
from  the  community.  At  this  time,  the  aforesaid 
young  monkey  may  be  perched  on  a shelf  higher  up, 
where  he  is  fed  on  the  richest  nuts  he  can  possibly  di- 
gest, from  a hand  vastly  superior  to  his  own 

The  demand  made  by  certain  supposed  wise  men 
that  each  individual  must  believe  in  all  the  theories  of 
atonement,  incarnation,  the  Trinity,  etc.,  etc.,  as  in- 
terpreted by  these  wise  men,  is  a great  wrong,  they 
are  totally  unnecessary  to  the  unfoldment,  the  happi- 
ness, and  progression  of  the  soul  toward  a conscious 
union  with  the  Father. 

The  one  who  has  passed  beyond  the  plane  of 
understanding  which  the  ordinary  people  have,  should 
not,  however,  condemn  those  who  are  yet  enveloped 
in  clouds  of  the  animal  intellect  and  materialism.  Be 
content  to  let  Divine  Principle,  God,  ripen  each  and 
every  one  according  to  his  divine  law.  You  cannot 
hurry  the  process.  They  must  go  through  experience 
and  ripen  naturally,  as  the  fruit  of  the  tree.  Beilhart 
says,  “You  must  permit  the  young  chick  to  remain 
in  the  egg-shell  until  it  has  made  use  of  all  the  ma- 
terial within,  at  which  time  it  is  sufficiently  grown  to 
occupy  a new  world,  and  the  shell  is  picked  open,  the 
chick  becomes  a chicken,  demanding  new  food,  breath- 
ing fresh  air,  and  with  its  entire  environment  different, 
but  the  chicken  must  not  sneer  at,  nor  deride  his 
brother  and  sister  chicks,  who  are  on  the  lower  plane 
of  unfoldment  and  still  existing  upon  the  meat  within 
the  egg-shell.  That  is  a necessary  state  in  the 
growth.” 


24 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


The  boards  of  examiners  who  try  heretics,  are  gen- 
erally composed  of  chicks  living  upon  the  meat  within 
the  egg-shell,  while  the  heretic,  if  thoughful,  honest, 
and  sticking  to  Principle  is  the  evolved  chicken,  exist- 
ing upon  a higher  plane  which  cannot  be  understood 
now  by  the  chicks. 

The  progressive  power  of  man. — It  is  a very 
interesting  study  to  observe  how  Divine  Principle  has 
gradually,  from  time  to  time,  endowed  man  with 
more  and  more  power  to  handle  material,  until  at 
the  present  age,  the  tremendous  forces  that  are 
handled  by  man,  would  have  been  deemed  only 
possible  of  God,  by  our  ancestors  of  four  or  five  thou- 
sand years  ago. 

We  know  many  exact  facts  of  man  as  he  existed  in 
what  is  known  as  the  stone  age,  when  all  of  his  im- 
plements were  of  stone.  He  knew  nothing  of  any  of 
the  operations  which  would  require  tools  different 
from  those  which  he  was  enabled  to  make  from  stone. 
They  supplied  his  wants  and  needs  at  that  time. 
Gradually  he  stepped  along,  his  wants  increasing 
somewhat,  and  finally  we  know  of  man  in  the  bronze 
age,  and  a little  later  in  the  iron  age,  while  at  this 
writing,  we  are  in  the  age  of  steel,  and  it  is  supposed 
that  the  next  will  be  the  aluminum  age.  Beyond 
that,  of  course,  we  are  unable  to  see. 

We  find  man  of  the  present  day  has  captured,  har- 
nessed, and  driven  the  lightning  at  his  pleasure  — 
not  full  controller  yet,  remember,  but  with  sufficient 
power  to  handle  the  mighty  current  in  many  ways, 
for  his  pleasure  and  betterment.  We  also  find  him 
using  the  power  of  wind,  and  the  likely  apprentice 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT.E. 


125 


seems  now  to  be  managing  the  clouds  — to  demand 
and  obtain  rain  at  his  pleasure. 

He  has  put  his  hand  upon  the  stored-up  energy  from 
the  sun  in  the  shape  of  coal,  and  uses  it  to  return 
water  to  its  condition  of  power,  namely,  vapor  or  steam 
— to  harness  that  vapor  and  use  it. 

We  find  he  works  as  a co-partner  with  the  divine 
Father,  and  yet  the  junior  partner  is  all  too  uncon- 
scious of  his  powerful  connection  and  standing  as  a 
member  of  the  wonderful  firm. 

The  mind  of  man,  even  the  lower  mind,  or  the 
so-called  intellect,  has  great  control  over  material. 
This  mind  is  able  to  shape,  mould,  and  determine  the 
character  and  quality  of  various  structures,  for  instance, 
apples,  pears,  pumpkins,  potatoes,  corn,  wheat,  and 
perhaps  all  of  the  edible  fruits,  vegetables,  and  grains. 

Within  the  memory  of  many  readers  of  this  book, 
there  existed  a small,  round,  red  berry,  called  a love 
apple.  This,  of  course,  we  know  was  the  original  to- 
mato. Man  took  this  insignificant  product,  and  by 
cultivation,  care,  and  the  expenditure  of  work  (con- 
trolled wholly  by  his  intellect),  he  gradually,  from 
year  to  year,  produced  a better  quality  of  tomato, 
until  at  the  present  day,  we  have  the  large,  fine,  firm 
vegetable,  often  larger  than  a man’s  fist,  delicious  in 
taste,  beautiful  to  the  eye,  and  nourishing  to  the 
body. 

This  result  was  not  produced  by  the  action  alone 
of  a separate  power,  or,  if  you  please,  the  senior  of 
the  firm.  It  is  the  result  of  the  power  inherited  by 
the  junior,  acting  upon  the  original  start  given  by  the 
Father.  Father  and  Son  work  together,  not  as  sep- 


126 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


arate  individuals,  but  as  one.  This  result  can  be 
seen  in  the  improved  vegetables,  fruit,  and  grain  of 
the  present  day,  but  the  intellect  of  man  is  seldom 
conscious  of  the  possession  of  so  much  God-power 
from  the  Father.  The  intellect  acts  as  a servant 
until  ripened  and  evolved  far  enough  to  know  of  the 
higher  mind  ; that  mind  thereupon  becomes  conscious 
of  the  God  principle,  the  element  of  eternal  life  and 
eternal  power.  When  the  individual  is  in  posses- 
sion of  that  higher  mind,  it  is  impossible  for  his  body 
to  be  sick  or  out  of  harmony,  because  the  power  and 
force  of  that  mind  for  harmony,  for  health,  for  a per- 
fect condition,  is  such  that  the  opposite  is  a total 
impossibility.  It  is  true,  it  seems  a difficult  matter 
sometimes  to  dwell  in  the  higher  mind  at  your  pleas- 
ure, and  as  long  as  you  wish,  but  to  dwell  there  even 
a short  time,  is  a bath  in  the  waters  of  everlasting 
life. 

The  power  to  create  our  own  Heaven  or 

Hell. — It  is  too  profound  a truth  for  ordinary  mor- 
tals to  gain  ; it  lies  at  our  feet  unseen,  and  we  stum- 
ble along  without  knowledge  that  we  are  endowed  by 
law  with  the  marvelous  power  of  dwelling  each  day  in 
either  Heaven  or  Hell,  as  we  choose. 

We  start  out  in  the  morning  a little  ugly,  perhaps. 
The  first  person  we  pass  is  greeted  with  a defiant 
look.  A school-boy  heedlessly  stumbles  against  us 
in  his  efforts  to  catch  a ball.  He,  happy,  care-free, 
healthy,  and  ruddy,  dwelling  just  then  in  a perfect 
Heaven  of  comfort  and  peace,  while  we  can  only  see 
evil  ; so  the  boy  is  treated  to  some  cross  talk  or  a 


OR  SCIENTIA  VITJ2. 


127 


curse  or  two,  and  we  pass  along.  The  boy,  nearer 
to  nature,  is  but  temporarily  disturbed  from  his  bliss- 
ful position  ; he  soon  forgets  the  manifestation  of 
evil  and  goes  on  with  his  play,  while  we  roll  it  over 
and  over  for  an  hour  or  two,  thinking  how  we  had 
been  run  into  and  ‘ ‘ disturbed  by  a brat,  and  gave 
him  the  cursing  he  deserved,”  etc.,  etc.  We  have 
simply  descended  into  Hell,  and  can  see  no  good  ; 
all  is  evil  because  we  see  things  as  they  exist  at  that 
time  in  us. 

We  meet  a man  with  a scarred  face  from  burn 
or  wound,  the  features  distorted  and  drawn  in  an  un- 
natural way.  We  see  only  an  ugly,  distressed  look- 
ing face,  and  mentally  say  to  ourselves,  “That  man 
ought  to  have  died  when  he  was  injured  instead  of 
living  and  forcing  such  a picture  on  people’s  notice.” 
Ugly  within  ourselves,  all  is  ugly  without.  Soon  we 
may  feel  stomach,  eyes,  heart,  kidneys,  or  some 
other  members  of  our  body  complain,  and  we  say, 

‘ ‘ There,  I am  not  well  this  morning,  that ’s  what 
ails  me.”  But  the  reasoning  is  incorrect. 

The  ails  of  body  are  much  more  sure  to  be  the 
result  of  the  inharmony  of  mind.  Mind  moulds  and 
controls  body,  and  what  can  one  expect  from  a dis- 
cordant mind  but  a similar  result  in  body. 

My  dear  reader,  you  will  get  that  result  in  body 
whether  you  expect  it  or  not. 

Now,  suppose  the  person  of  whom  we  have  been 
writing  had,  in  starting  out,  ‘ ‘ pulled  himself  to- 
gether, ” and  with  some  knowledge  of  his  God-power, 
said,  ‘ ‘ Here,  I seem  to  be  dwelling  on  the  plane  of 


128 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


evil  this  morning,  and  not  in  harmony.  I will  not 
permit  this.  All  things  were  made  good,  and  I will 
admit  no  evil  into  my  tabernacle.” 

To  him,  in  that  condition,  the  stumbling  school-boy 
would  have  caused  no  irritation.  He  would  have 
kindly  steadied  the  lad,  squared  him  on  his  feet,  and 
sent  him  off  with  a quiet  smile,  if  no  word,  and  run 
over  in  mind  that  God,  the  same  Life  that  operated 
his  own  body,  was  manifesting  itself  through  the 
boy’s  body,  and  that  we  are  all  one.  ‘ ‘ At  that  day 
ye  shall  know  that  I am  in  my  Father,  and  ye  in  me, 
and  I in  you.”  John  14  : 20. 

The  boy  would  feel  a touch  of  pleasure  at  the 
smile,  and  although  he  would  likely  say  nothing,  the 
kindly  curve  of  the  man’s  mouth  would  add  a sprinkle 
of  happiness  to  his  thoughts,  perhaps  for  years  there- 
after. 

By  the  peculiar  law  of  harmony,  the  good 
thoughts  produced  by  the  mentality  of  the  man  and 
sent  out  toward  another,  return  heavy-laden  with 
healing  balm  and  comfort  to  their  parent  or  producer. 
(Try  it,  and  prove  the  correctness  of  the  statement, 
and  what  the  beautiful  law  of  God  will  do  for  you.) 

When  you  see  what  mortal  sense  tells  you  is  an 
ugly  face,  or  an  ugly  action,  decline  to  receive  the 
impression  of  evil  ; quickly  look  past  the  exterior,  and 
know  that  back  of  this  outward  vail  of  seeming  inhar- 
mony, God,  the  Life,  is  operating  silently,  perfectly, 
in  Harmony,  and  that  is  the  real,  the  enduring,  and 
eternal,  while  the  little  squints  of  so-called  evil  are 
simply  products  of  the  temporary  human  intellect  in 
the  play  on  the  stage  here,  and  you  decline  to  receive 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT.E. 


129 


such  as  real.  In  this  way  you  demonstrate  you*r  power 
and  privilege  to  sail  serenely  over  all  rough  seas  of  dis- 
cord and  to  dwell  in  a Heaven  of  peace  and  content 
right  here  and  now.  Attend  to  the  now  and  the 
Father  will  surely  attend  to  the  future,  wisely  and  for 
your  well-being. 

“Now  is  the  day  of  salvation,”  as  Jesus  Christ 
often  said,  and  it  does  not  mean  that  you  must  hurry 
and  beliefe  a lot  of  ideas  you  do  not  understand, 
simply  that  you  may  “ save  your  Soul.”  It  means, 
Be  harmonious  now.  Send  out  words  and  thoughts  of 
Comfort  now.  See  no  evil  now.  See  good  in  all 
things  and  everywhere  now.  Get  into  heaven  now , 
and  just  so  surely  as  you  get  right  now,  according  to 
the  law  of  the  Father,  your  happy  and  healthy  future 
is  assured.  We  exist  only  in  the  present  moment,  let 
that  be  right. 

Charity  or  Love. — Whenever  anything  which 
manifest  Life  attracts  your  attention,  quickly  send 
out  to  it  a mental  telegram  of  Love  or  Charity. 
Warm  toward  it  as  a part  of  yourself,  and  get  a 
warm  message  back  as  you  always  will. 

When  inclined  to  despise  some  human  being,  try  to 
mentally  stand  in  that  one’s  shoes  awhile  and  be  him 
or  her.  You  will  then  discover  that  they  are  plodding 
along  through  this  plane,  looking  at  things  from  their 
standpoint,  and  generally  trying  to  do  as  well  as  they 
can,  as  they  understand  it.  One  may  be  born  a little 
slow  of  wit,  but  sturdy.  Be  not  impatient  with  such 
a brother,  because  you  happen  to  be  just  now  en- 
dowed with  a little  more  nimble  brains.  He  is  doing 
his  share  as  a unit  in  the  diversified  manifestations  of 


9 


130 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


God,  and  he  is  one  with  God  and  one  with  you,  per- 
haps not  showing  some  of  the  higher  developments 
that  you  do  ; but  remember  he,  the  real  man , has  all 
the  powers,  even  if  latent  and  unseen. 

The  fact  that  he  is  a part  of  the  great  Universal 
Life,  God,  assures  him  Power,  the  power  of  God,  de- 
veloping more  and  higher  as  time  runs  on  into 
eternity. 

You  must  hold  all  living  things  in  your  mentality  in 
a loving  grasp.  The  Divine  law  of  Love  is  the  fire 
that  warms  you  into  Health  and  comfort. 

A person  may  quietly  practice  this,  receiving  great 
good  therefrom,  and  endeavor  to  explain  it  to  friends 
only  after  it  has  been  proven  often  enough  to  be  well 
understood  by  the  practitioner. 

Peace:  the  Comforter  come. — “For  he  is 
our  peace  who  hath  made  both  one,  and  hath  broken 
down  the  middle  wall  of  partition  between  us.  Hav- 
ing abolished  in  his  flesh  the  enmity,  even  the  law  of 
commandments  contained  in  ordinances  ; for  to  make 
in  himself  of  twain,  one  new  man,  so  making  peace.  ” 
Eph.  2:14,  15. 

How  difficult  the  work  of  Jesus  Christ  to  try  by 
parable,  example,  and  in  all  ways  to  show  man  that 
he,  the  real  man , is  one  with  the  Father  ! They  are 
not  “twain,”  but  one.  Rise,  then,  in  your  true 
Majesty  and  take  possession  of  yourself. 

You  are  a Prince  of  Life.  Come  to  your  senses, 
and  do  not  let  the  laws  of  evil,  inharmony,  sickness, 
sin,  or  any  other  thing  which  is  not  natural,  rule  you 
any  longer. 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT.E. 


131 

They  have  bluffed  you,  and  made  you  believe  they 
were  something.  They  vanish  into  thin  air  when 
you  take  away  their  only  life.  How  ? Refuse  to 
think  of  them.  If  you  strictly  do  not  think  of  them, 
where  are  they  ? 

You  will  find  they  were  totally  without  existence  to 
you,  until  you  took  them  into  your  household,  and 
gave  them  the  only  power  they  have,  that  is,  recog- 
nition. 

God  made  all. 

God  made  all  things  good. 

In  the  world  of  realities  there  is  nothing  but  good, 
and  all  is  in  harmony. 

Evil,  therefore,  is  a morbid  product  of  hu- 
man intellect,  and  is  nothing  more  than  a thin  illusion. 
That  thing  called  evil  is  only  brought  about  by  some 
unnatural  condition  of  man,  and  the  effect  of  it  is  only 
seen  on  the  plane  of  the  lower  life,  while  man  has  the 
power  to  destroy  it  (Sin,  sickness,  and  disease)  at  once, 
if  he  choose,  by  asserting  his  Divine  power  to  mani- 
fest good  or  harmony  only,  and  to  efface  all  pictures 
from  his  mind  that  do  not  partake  of  Peace,  Power, 
Harmony,  Health,  Love,  and  Happiness.  “But 
when  the  comforter  is  come,  whom  I will  send  unto 
you  from  the  Father,  even  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  which 
proceedeth  from  the  Father,  he  shall  testify  of  me,” 
“And  ye  also  shall  bear  witness,  because  ye  have 
been  with  me  from  the  beginning.  ” John  1 5 : 26,  27. 

When  you  know  that  you  are  Soul,  or  Life,  and 
not  body,  then  the  Comforter  comes,  which  is  the 
“Spirit  of  Truth,”  and  then  you  will  be  able  to 


132 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


understand  that  the  great  Teacher,  Jesus,  sought 
always  to  teach  that  fact  (“He  shall  testify  of  me”)  ; 
and  “ye  also  shall  bear  witness,”  because  you,  Life 
Mind,  came  to  an  understanding  of  yourself,  and  then 
know  that  you  are  a part  of  Life  as  Jesus  was  and  is 
now.  And,  further,  that  we  have  been  together 
always  ; for  Life  always  has  and  always  will  exist  ; 
and  as  we  become  conscious  of  this  fact,  and  our 
union  with  Life,  we  know  how  true  it  is  that  we  exist 
eternally,  and  that  our  conscious  knowledge  of  one 
another  will  continue  from  plane  to  plane  through  all 
eternity. 

This  is  a statement  of  facts  which  any  deep  student 
of  natural  law  is  compelled  to  admit  as  his  investiga- 
tions carry  him  from  step  to  step. 

A Clinical  Talk  with  Physicians. — The  pa- 
tient, steady  toil  of  the  deep  investigator  into  causes  for 
human  illness,  and  the  scientific  research  for  remedial 
agents,  together  with  the  deep  wells  of  human  sym- 
pathy, which  is  often  the  impetus  that  nerves  the  true 
physician  to  face  the  dark  and  cold,  and  inspires  him 
with  the  high  sense  of  duty  and  personal  bravery  to 
encounter  disease,  infection,  and  death  in  its  worst 
forms,  has  won  from  man  the  admission  that  the 
sturdy  honest  workers  in  this  profession  are  probably 
more  deserving  of  human  gratitude  than  those  of  any 
other  calling. 

Chemists  can  expect  a definite  result  from  the  con- 
junction of  the  particular  power  of  one  organic  substance 
with  the  special  power  of  another  organic  substance, 
and  theirs  is  therefore  a fixed  science  in  which  the 
laws  are  plainly  understood  as  progress  is  made. 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT^E. 


133 


This  is  true  of  surgery,  but  the  practice  of  Materia 
Medica  is  ?iot,  and  never  can  become  a science. 

It  cannot  be  rescued  from  the  realm  of  uncertainty 
and  guess-work.  The  exact  effect  on  the  human  body, 
of  any  sort  of  medicine  can  never  be  predetermined. 
Why?  — Because  the  human  mind  has -not  been  con- 
sulted in  the  experiment,  and  is  always  at  hand  to  dictate 
whether  the  material  of  body  shall  respond  to  the 
force  with  which  the  medicine  is  endorsed,  or  not. 

A remedy  may  be  serving  its  purpose  very  nicely 
until  the  patient  “loses  faith”  in  the  doctor  or  the 
medicine,  and  from  that  moment  the  power  of  the 
remedy  is  nullified ; hence  a new  one  must  be  sup- 
plied. 

You  here  come  in  contact  with  a power  great 
enough  to  rob  the  pills  and  pellets  of  their  power. 
Would  it  not  be  the  part  of  wisdom  to  study  well  this 
element  and  learn  how  to  harness  it  into  service  for 
healing  ? 

Let  us  bring  forward  the  testimony  of  many  of 
nature’s  noblemen  in  the  profession  and  see  how  they 
deplore  the  unavailing  efforts  to  establish  a fixed 
science  by  the  employment  of  material  remedies 
alone  : — 

Prof.  S.  M.  Gross,  of  the  Medical  College,  Louis- 
ville, Ky. : “Of  the  essence  of  disease  very  little  is 

known  — indeed,  nothing  at  all .” 

Prof.  Valentine  Mott:  “Of  all  sciences,  medicine 
is  the  most  uncertain.” 

Dr.  Marshall  Hall,  F.  R.  S. : “ Thousands  are  an- 
nually slaughtered  in  the  quiet  sick  room.” 

Sir  Astley  Cooper,  F.  R.  S. : “ The  science  of 


34 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


medicine  is  founded  on  conjecture,  improved  by 
murder.” 

Dr.  Adam  Smith  : “The  chief  cause  of  quackery 
outside  the  profession  is  the  real  quackery  in  the  pro- 
fession. ” 

Dr.  Ramage,  F.  R.  S. , of  London  : ‘ ‘ The  popular 
medical  system  has  neither  philosophy  nor  common 
sense  to  commend  it  to  confidence.” 

Prof.  Gilman  : ‘ ‘ The  things  that  are  administered 
for  the  cure  of  scarlet  fever  and  measles , kill  far  more 
than  those  diseases  do.” 

Prof.  Barker,  of  the  N.  Y.  Medical  College  : “The 
drugs  that  are  administered  for  the  cure  of  scarlet 
fever  kill  far  more  patients  than  disease  does.” 

Dr.  James  Johnson,  F.  R.  S. , editor  of  the  Chir- 
urgical  Review  : “I  declare  it  is  my  conscientious 

conviction,  founded  on  long  experience  and  observa- 
tion, if  there  were  not  a single  physician,  surgeon,  man- 
midwife,  chemist,  apothecary,  druggist  or  drug  on  the 
face  of  the  earth,  there  would  be  less  mortality  and  less 
sickness  than  now  prevails.” 

Dr.  Coggswell,  of  Boston  : “It  is  my  firm  belief 
that  the  prevailing  mode  of  practice  is  productive  of 
vastly  more  evil  than  good  ; and  were  it  abosolutely 
abolished,  mankind  would  be  infinitely  the  gainer.” 

R.  R.  Noyes,  M.  D.,  in  his  “History  of  Medicine,” 
says  : “A  drug  or  substance  can  never  be  called  a 
healer  of  disease  ; there  is  no  reason,  justice,  or  neces- 
sity in  the  use  of  drugs  in  diseases.  I believe  that  this 
profession,  this  art,  this  misnamed  knowledge  of  medi- 
cine, is  none  other  than  a practice  of  fundamentally 
fallacious  principles,  impotent  of  good,  morally  wrong, 
and  bodily  hurtful.” 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT.E. 


135 


Dr.  Benj.  Rush,  the  famous  Philadelphia  physician 
and  instructor,  says  : “ It  is  impossible  to  calculate  the 
mischief  which  Hippocrates  has  done,  by  first  mark- 
ing nature  with  his  name,  and  afterward  letting  her 
loose  upon  sick  people.” 

Dr.  Chapman,  Professor  of  the  Institutes  and  Prac- 
tice of  Physic  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  says  : 
“Consulting  the  records  of  our  science,  we  cannot 
help  being  disgusted  with  the  multitude  of  hypotheses 
obtruded  upon  us  at  different  times.  Nowhere  is  the 
imagination  displayed  to  a greater  extent  ; and  perhaps 
so  ample  an  exhibition  of  human  invention  might 
gratify  our  vanity,  if  it  were  not  more  than  compensated 
by  the  humiliating  view  of  so  much  absurdity,  con- 
tradiction, and  falsehood.  To  harmonize  the  con- 
trarieties of  medical  doctrines  is  indeed  a task  as 
impracticable  as  to  arrange  the  fleeting  vapors  around 
us,  or  to  reconcile  the  fixed  and  repulsive  antipathies 
of  nature.  Dark  and  perplexed,  our  devious  career 
resembles  the  groping  of  Homer’s  Cyclops  around  his 
cave.” 

Dr.  Mason  Good,  a learned  professor  of  London, 
says  : “The  effects  of  medicine  on  the  human  system 
are  in  the  highest  degree  uncertain  ; except,  indeed, 
that  it  has  already  destroyed  more  lives  than  war, 
pestilence,  and  famine  all  combined.” 

Sir  John  Forbes,  M.  D.,  Fellow  of  the  royal  College 
of  Physicians,  London  says  : “ No  systematic  or  theo- 
retical classification  of  diseases  or  of  therapeutic  agents, 
ever  promulgated,  is  true  or  anything  like  the  truth, 
and  none  can  be  adopted  as  a safe  guidance  in 
practice.” 

The  above  are  the  honest  utterances  of  honest  men. 


I 36  NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 

They  have  all  tried  to  make  the  cart  push  and  direct 
the  horse. 

The  entire  practice  of  medicine  is  based  on  the 
hypothesis  that  brain  movement  (self-induced)  pro- 
duces mind  ; hence  bodily  conditions  affect  mind,  and 
therefore  body  is  the  ruler , and  mind  the  servant. 

This  conclusion  is  natural,  for  the  most  casual 
observer  will  affirm  that  certain  abnormal  conditions 
of  body  do  affect  the  mind,  and  in  so  pronounced  a 
manner  at  times,  as  to  make  a human  being  ‘ ‘ lose  his 
mind  ’ ’ altogether. 

This  universally  accepted  theory  is  the  exact  opposite 
of  the  truth. 

Body  is  built  wholly  of  inorganic  sub- 
stance obtained  form  earth,  water,  and  the  floating 
particles  of  inorganic  matter  in  air.  Wheat,  oats, 
corn,  etc.,  are  members  of  the  intermediate  kingdom 
(vegetable),,  whose  duty  it  is  to  select  particles  of  iron, 
soda,  lime,  potash,  and  other  suitable  ingredients  from 
earth,  which  with  heat,  air,  and  water  produce  a chem- 
ical change  in  these  elements,  fitting  them  for  the  use 
of  the  animal  kingdom.  The  animal  takes  up  the 
product,  and  in  its  consumption,  a number  of  new 
chemical  changes  take  place  as  these  elements  are 
deftly  moulded  into  bone,  sinew,  and  flesh  of  the 
human  form. 

At  no  period  during  the  manipulation  of  this  dead 
material  has  it  gained  any  intelligence,  power,  or  life. 
It  was  primarily  dead,  inert  matter,  and  so  it  has 
remained,  and  always  will  remain. 

The  body  of  man  is  a dead  body,  built  wholly  of 
earth  and  water.  It  seems  alive?  — Yes,  when  un- 


OR  SCIENTIA  VITJE. 


137 


der  the  management  of  that  which  does  not  dwell 
therein. 

Physiology  gives  a careful  and  technical  description 
of  the  human  machine,  beautifully  built  and  ready  for 
motion,  but  physiology  treats  only  of  the  clay  image, 
confessing  itself  ignorant  of  the  source  of  motion  or 
life,  dismissing  the  subject  with  the  statement  that 
the  body  is  sensitized  by  that  current  of  nerve 
energy  which  passes  over  or  through  the  nervous 
system. 

All  ordinary  students  of  physiology  are  still 

in  the  blind  hypothesis  of  Matter  producing  motion , 
power  and  life.  They  believe  that  the  convolutions  of 
the  brain  (made  of  mud  and  water)  produce  vibrations 
of  air,  which  have  some  peculiar  properties,  and  call 
these  mind.  This  theory,  therefore,  demands  that 
body  (the  clay  doll)  originates  all  pain  and  pleasure, 
sickness,  or  health.  Such  a theory  will  do  for  man 
in  one  stage  of  evolution,  but  will  quickly  go  down  to 
join  the  great  army  of  dead  theories,  under  the  white 
search-light  of  advanced  understanding. 

Any  educated  medical  practitioner  will  explain  to  a 
patient  that  ‘ ‘ drugs  will  heal  nothing.  They  can 
only  assist  nature  ; but  nature  must  do  the  work  or  the 
patient  is  lost.  ” Who  rules  the  forces  of  nature  in 
the  body  ? — the  clay  ? or  that  God-given  governor 
called  mind  ? 

Tlie  studies  of  physicians  in  years  past  led  them 
only  through  physical  pathology,  and  the  search  for 
material  remedies,  ignoring  the  ruling  power  of  mind. 
This  is  the  reason  for  the  preceding  statements  from 
such  eminent  practitioners.  They  all  recognize  that 


138 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


they  have  been  dealing  with  servants,  and  the  master 
of  the  household  (mind)  frequently  steps  in  and  upsets 
all  calculations. 

The  newer  and  higher  practice  is  to  deal  directly 
with  the  master,  and  the  servants  (arms,  legs,  stom- 
ach, bowels,  kidneys,  etc.,  etc.)  go  about  their  work 
perfectly. 

The  physical  body  of  the  child  is  the  moulded  clay 
image,  expressing  the  mother’s  thought,  joined  with 
the  race  motives  (mental),  and  directly  influenced  by 
the  living  motives  or  thoughts  of  ancestry  which  have 
passed  from  the  physical  plane  (dead,  so-called). 
These  thought  forces  express  themselves  by  the 
moulded  form  of  dead  material,  brought  to  expression 
on  the  plane  of  the  human  eye  and  the  physical 
senses. 

The  process  of  building  so  beautiful  a structure  is 
most  complex. 

It  is  not  given  over  to  the  mother  to  have  unlimited 
control  of  the  new  compound  thought  expression. 

There  is  a higher  force,  or  law,  of  which  the 
average  human  mother  knows  but  little.  She  is  the 
active  agent,  or  executive,  for  the  enforcement  of  the 
law,  and  is  endowed  with  vastly  more  power  than  she 
is  conscious  of.  The  wriggling  snake  may  so  imprint 
its  image  on  her  mentality  as  to  show  on  the  body  of 
the  child.  The  body  is  a reflection  in  the  mirror,  out- 
lining the  soul  or  mind  substance,  which  is  the  real 
entity. 

As  a baby,  the  little  one  is  singularly  subject  to  the 
mental  condition  of  the  mother.  Fear  in  mother 
brings  many  ails  to  baby.  A fretful,  complaining 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT.E. 


139 


mother  will  see  her  inharmony  reflected  in  some  way 
on  the  physical  child. 

From  the  time  the  child  is  born,  is  kept  up  the 
continuing  process  of  building  in  new  material,  and 
tearing  down  the  old.  This  process  is  quite  well 
understood  by  all  well-informed  physicians,  and  the 
details  need  not  be  taken  up  here,  except  to  say  that 
the  blood  is  freighted  with  the  refined  product  of  the 
digestive  laboratory,  and  this  material  is  distributed 
along  its  route  as  needed. 

This  current  also  carries  the  element  needed  (oxy- 
gen) to  reduce  the  worn  tissue  to  a suitable  condition 
for  elimination  from  the  body.  When  the  old  tissue 
is  reduced,  it  is  carried  by  the  blood  to  the  sewers  of 
the  body,  — pores,  kidneys,  and  intestinal  canal,  where 
the  once  beautiful  eye,  lips,  tongue,  and  even  the 
valves  of  the  heart  are  thrown  out,  piece  at  a time, 
sent  back  to  clay,  lime,  potash,  soda,  iron,  etc., — 
back  to  the  great  field  of  material,  to  be  taken  up 
again  by  Life  and  built  into  grass,  or  grain,  and  then 
into  cattle,  sheep,  etc. , back  again  to  man. 

Many  of  the  particles  which  once  were  in  man’s 
body  become  rebuilt  into  trees,  and  if  put  into  lumber, 
perhaps  remain  in  that  shape  for  some  hundreds  of 
years.  It  is  quite  certain  that  parts  of  your  house, 
lumber,  iron,  or  paint,  contain  parts  of  material  which 
once  was  moulded  into  the  superb  physique  of  the 
native  Indian.  Would  you  say  this  material  ever  had 
intelligence,  power,  Life  ? 

It  is  not  possible.  Life,  which  is  identical  with 
mind,  is  the  energy  or  power  which  does  the  mould- 
ing, but  never  inhabits  the  statuary. 


140 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


Physicians  will  agree  thfet  a well-poised  mental  con- 
dition is  necessary  to  perfect  assimilation  of  food,  and 
that  good  digestion  and  assimilation  is  an  absolute 
requisite  to  a normal  condition  of  body. 

Ignorance  has  taught  that,  primarily,  some- 
thing has  disagreed  with  the  stomach,  the  articles  of 
food  were  not  of  a proper  character  to  agree  with  the 
individual’s  digestive  apparatus,  hence , mal-nutrition 
and  a failure  to  properly  feed  the  nerve  centers,  result- 
ing in  the  many  forms  of  disease  under  this  head, 
including  a certain  effect  on  the  mind. 

Deep  scientific  research  and  observation  has  demon- 
strated that  certain  mental  states  quickly  and  surely 
reflect  on  the  stomach,  and  that  stomach  is  not  the 
primary  offender  at  all. 

If  stomach  receives  a blow  from  too  great  a load, 
it  recovers  as  quickly  as  any  part  of  the  body,  and 
goes  cleanly  and  naturally  to  work  again,  provided 
the  governor,  mind , is  not  ignorantly  mismanaging. 

Certain  mental  conditions,  surely  and  always , pro- 
duce a nervous,  congested  state  of  stomach,  when  no 
food  can  be  properly  digested. 

The  sensitive,  delicate,  and  beautiful  structure  of  the 
digestive  organs  is  absolutely  dependent  upon  a per- 
fect condition  of  the  nervous  system,  and  the  nervous 
system  in  turn  is  absolutely  dependent,  for  its  perfect 
condition,  upon  a perfect  mental  state,  as  every  vary- 
ing condition  of  mind  reflects  directly  upon  the  nerv- 
ous system,  manifesting  in  the  flesh,  either  discord  or 
concord. 

When  the  delicate  cells  of  stomach  become  gorged 
with  blood  (a  congested  condition)  because  the  free 
and  perfect  circulation  has  been  interfered  with,  it 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT.E.  141 

directly  points  to  a disordered  nervous  condition,  the 
same  condition  which  often  produces  cold  extremities, 
or  a peculiar  feeling  in  the  head  from  lack  of  blood, 
i.  e.,  poor  circulation.  Instead  of  the  full,  steady  swing 
of  perfect  harmony  in  all  parts,  we  find  but  little 
blood  in  the  feet,  hands,  and  head,  while  the  excess 
is  gorged  in  the  vitals,  stomach , liver,  and,  with 
ladies,  often  in  the  womb  and  ovaries.  The  more 
delicately  adjusted  the  organ,  the  more  easily  thrown 
out  of  adjustment  by  such  disturbing  causes. 

Stomach  is  generally  the  first  to  be  attacked 
by  the  slightest  mental  disturbance  or  unpleasant 
thought,  and  quickly  gets  out  of  order. 

If  one  is  a sufficiently  skillful  mental  operator,  it 
can  be  put  right  at  once  and  the  unpleasant  and  often 
fatal  results  averted. 

But  the  usual  way  (being  ignorant  of  how  to  man- 
age skillfully)  is  to  continue  the  conditions  which  first 
induced  the  discordant  state  of  stomach  ; and  then 
liver,  spleen,  intestines,  etc.,  become  involved,  and 
these  parts  of  the  manufactory,  doing  their  work  in  an 
imperfect  way,  fail  to  furnish  proper  nourishment  to 
the  nerve  centers,  which  produces  a failure  in  all  parts 
of  the  body,  and  general  disaster,  as  any  educated 
physician  can  explain. 

It  is  found  possible  to  desensitize  the  human  body 
to  a degree  and  often  wholly.  Every  patient  can 
withdraw  sensation  enough  to  prevent  acute  pain 
from  the  nerves.  This  done,  inflammation  cannot 
set  up  its  law,  and  suppuration  does  not  follow.  The 
phathological  sequences  are  estopped  by  reason  of  the 
withdrawal  of  the  active  agent. 

The  effect  of  partial  desensitization  of  body  is  to 


142 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


permit  the  free  swing  of  the  recuperative  forces  of 
nature,  and  all  practitioners  are  aware  of  the  wonders 
performed  by  that  agent  when  the  destructive  causes 
are  quickly  and  thoroughly  removed.  In  cases  of 
fever,  the  writer  has  seen  the  temperature  of  the  patient 
go  down  to  normal  in  a very  few  minutes  after  mental 
treatment  has  been  applied. 

In  stomach  troubles,  the  patient  will  eat  any  sort 
of  edible  food  freely  and  digest  it  with  ease  and  free 
from  discomfort.  An  abundance  of  well  authenticated 
cases  are  known  to  all  practitioners  who  keep  informed 
on  the  progress  of  the  day. 

Given  the  ability  to  set  the  digestive  organs  prop- 
erly to  work,  almost  any  form  of  disease  must  yield 
to  the  powerful  effect  of  good  blood.  New  and  good 
tissue  is  built  quickly,  and  good  rich  blood  is  a better 
germicide  than  bichloride  of  mercury.  Let  us,  there- 
fore, instruct  our  patients  how  to  get  out  of  the  des- 
perate states  produced  by  an  ugly,  evil,  and  depressing 
state  of  mind,  dwelling  in  the  lower  intellect,  and 
seeking  their  good  only  from  the  plane  of  material. 

You  ask  how  to  proceed  in  withdrawing  sensation 
from  body  ? — A mental  operator  can  produce  this  con- 
dition in  a patient  ; but  to  handle  the  subject  skill- 
fully, requires  instruction  more  in  detail  than  is 
possible  in  this  book. 

To  withdraw  sensation  from  yonr  own 
body  when  in  pain  or  sickness,  fix  your  mind  as  fol- 
lows, “ throw  your  soul  into  it,”  and  let  not  one  single 
do.ubt  arise.  Know  you  can.  ‘ ‘ I am  eternal,  one  with 
God,  Life,  Power,  Energy.  I am  mind,  not  body. 
Body  is  nothing.  I am  Soul,  and  have  no  material 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT.E. 


43 


body  just  now.  I leave  the  dream  of  the  material 
plane,  and  am  now  dwelling  with  Life,  the  Father, 
and,  by  the  law,  I take  upon  myself  the  power  of  the 
Father  as  I merge  mentally  into  him.  When  I return 
to  body,  it  must  obey  as  a good  servant.  Intellect,  the 
Butler  of  the  household,  must  also  recognize  a master, 
a kindly  master,  but  one  whose  dictation  is  eternal 
law,  and  there  is  no  power  but  One , That  One , I am 
one  with.”  In  other  words,  be  soul,  and  not  body,  for 
a time. 

You  will,  upon  return  to  body,  find  it  quite  easy 
and  on  the  high  road  to  recovery.  It  will  not  take  up 
the  pain  again  except  when  you  admit  it.  Body 
makes  no  pain,  which  is  wholly  a mental  picture  ; and 
when  you  are  asleep,  or  have  “treated  ” yourself  by 
thinking  only  with  the  higher  mind,  the  mental  picture 
is  wiped  out  forever  unless  you  make  a new  one. 

Gradually,  as  one  becomes  skilled  in  the 
new  art,  they  will  learn  to  cast  out  all  pictures  of  evil, 
sin,  envy,  hate,  and  all  forms  of  negative  character, 
and  hold  up  to  their  mental  mirror  ideals  of  universal 
Love.  Know  no  evil  or  sin,  no  envy  or  hate.  Know 
no  death.  You  are  eternal,  and  the  peace  of  the 
Father  comes  when  we  know  this.  “ My  Peace  I 
give  unto  you,” — not  the  peace  of  the  world  of  ma- 
teriality ; for  we  get  no  real  peace  when  we  think  we 
will  finally  die,  and  therefore  must  hurry,  hurry  to  do 
our  life  work.  Peace,  peace  to  you.  You  are  simply 
doing  things  in  eternity,  and  there  is  no  such  thing  as 
end.  Time  is  a principle,  never-ending  and  never 
having  a beginning,  but  belonging  to  principles  which 
always  existed.  The  human  intellect  demands  a be- 


144 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


ginning  and  an  end  for  all  things.  The  higher  mind 
reaches  over  on  to  the  higher  plane,  and  reads  there  a 
law  not  known  on  the  plane  of  material  or  intellect, 
that  law  teaches  of  ever-existing  principles,  requir- 
ing no  creation  or  beginning,  but  existing'  on  the  plane 
of  eternal  Life,  God  ; and  all  sub-principles  take  their 
being  there.  Health,  Life,  Good,  Love  are  some  of 
these,  and  they  have  no  opposites  except  in  the  in- 
verted mirror  of  a mesmerized  human  intellect. 

Mind  manages  brain,  and  from  brain  radiate 
the  wires  to  carry  orders  to  the  various  parts.  If  you 
know  how  to  meet  the  intellect  of  another  on  its  unseen 
plane,  and  overpower  it,  you  can  usurp  its  place  and 
direct  the  brain  of  the  individual  just  as  he  did  formerly. 
This  is  Hypnotism  or  Mesmerism.  When  you  know 
how  to  do  this,  and  set  up  before  the  individual, 
ideals  of  perfection,  harmony,  health  of  mind  and 
body,  you  have  left  the  practice  of  mesmerism,  and 
merged  over  into  the  practice  of  Scientia  Vitae  — left 
the  plane  of  intellect  and  operate  by  and  with  the 
One  mind , the  great  universal  Life  Principle. 

Each  moment  awake,  the  individual  is  guided 
by  some  mental  influence,  and  his  body  works  it 
out,  or  rather  he  shows  the  quality  and  character 
of  his  line  of  thought,  by  his  body.  Now  if  the 
operator  can  improve  the  patient’s  harmonious  motives 
and  dismiss  his  inharmonious  influences,  the  principle 
of  this  line  of  therapeutics  is  at  least  partly  under- 
stood. 

You  will  agree  that  a patient  in  “high  spirits”  is 
practically  a case  won.  To  put  them  there  and  give 
them  an  understanding  old  how  to  keep  there  is  a 
key-note. 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT.E. 


145 


Material  remedies  can  be  dismissed  when 
you  get  your  patient  in  this  condition  ; for  the  ma- 
chinery is  at  work  in  fine  rhythm,  and  Nature  is  the 
only  remedial  agent  after  all. 

I find  that  cases  where  (as  in  erysipelas  and  rheu- 
matism) acute  pain  attends,  the  pain  may  by  dismissed 
instantly  ifi  many  cases.  In  other  cases  it  requires 
from  fifteen  to  twenty-five  minutes,  while  in  some 
cases  the  best  that  can  be  done  is  partially  to  desen- 
sitize them,  and  the  pain  gradually  leaves.  In  all  cases' 
where  there  be  structural  change,  such  as  swollen  face, 
or  members,  the  swelling  disappears  gradually  and 
quite  according  to  law. 

The  active  disease  having  been  killed,  nature  sets 
up  its  rebuilt  structure  quickly  and  perfectly. 

Knowing  that  no  action  has  been  taken  by  the 
operator,  to  use  inward  or  outward  material  remedies, 
but  that  the  me7ital  pictures  of  disease  and  pain  have 
been  wiped  out  and  a new  set  of  motives  of  health 
and  harmony  put  in  their  place,  — while  the  patient 
is  in  a mild  way  in  possession  of  the  operator  ; it  is 
prima-facie  evidence  of  the  fact  that  disease  is  en- 
tirely a mental  picture , which  may  be  wiped  out  by 
some  mental  change  almost  any  time  in  the  history 
of  the  cause,  and  various  cases  may  bring  about  the 
destruction  of  the  imprint  on  the  sensitized  photo- 
graphic plate. 

The  surest  way  to  thoroughly  to  destroy  the  picture 
of  disease,  is  to  instruct  the  patient  in  the  unreality  of 
sin  and  disease , and  in  the  power  and  reality  of  Life’s 
harmony. 

We  are  so  constructed  that  a happy  thought  places 
the  individual  in  a perfect  haven  of  peace  just  at  that 


10 


146 


NATURAL  SUGGESTION, 


moment  — no  pain,  no  evil,  no  disease,  no  deatfg 
nothing  but  harmony  and  content.  Scientia  Vitae 
undertakes  to  instruct  one  how  to  continue  the  happy, 
peaceful  line  of  thinking,  and  under  its  influence, 
Life  builds  a physique,  “ fit  residence  for  the  gods.’’ 
Remove  the  depressing  influences  and  nature  per- 
forms miracles.  • 

These  facts  lie  at  our  feet,  but  have  been  stumbled 
over,  unheeded.  Gather  them  into  your  understanding 
and  you  have  acquired  the  Science  of  all  sciences,  and 
unlocked  the  mystery  of  life.  “Man,  Know  thyself." 

Physician,  you  have  studied  well  the  form,  structure, 
and  texture  of  the  shadow.  In  these  times  of  rapid 
unfoldment  and  occupancy  of  entirely  new  territory 
in  the  progress  of  mankind,  you  are  urged  to  the  study 
and  analysis  of  the  real  being  who  casts  the,  shadow. 
Take  up  your  investigations  now  in  the  realm  of  cause, 
force,  Mind,  and  Life. 

You  have  plodded  long1  enough  in  the  mud 

of  Material.  You  know  the  statue  well  ; hasten  to 
form  the  intimate  acquaintance  of  the  sculptor. 

It  will  be  readily  perceived  that  when  the  operator  is 
treating  a patient  by  natural  suggestion  (given  that  the 
patient  is  skillfully  put  in  the  proper  condition),  it  is 
an  absolute  essential  that  the  mentality  of  the  operator 
hold  only  the  perfect  model,  as  intended  by  Supreme 
Cause.  Details  need  not  be  outlined  and  in  some 
cases  better  not,  or  the  crude  work  of  the  apprentice 
will  be  shown  instead  of  the  perfect  work  of  the 
Master.  Dare  to  hold  the  laws  of  pathology  before 
you,  or  a diseased  condition  as  real,  and  what  could 
you  expect  the  dry  plate  (your  patient)  to  print  ? Nat- 


OR  SCIENTIA  VIT.E. 


147 


ural  Suggestion  means  what  the  words  indicate. 
Hold  the  model  of  perfect  peace  and  harmony  in  your 
own  mentality  and  your  patient  will  print  it  The 
process  will  also  destroy  any  abnormal  symptoms 
which  may  exist  in  your  own  case,  in  which  event  the 
saying,  “ It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive,” 
will  be  more  plainly  understood. 


OUR  KIND  OF  MAN 


Not  an  Apollo  with  snow-white  hand, 

A trifle  austere,  nor  yet  too  bland, 

But  a heart  of  gold  all  through  and  through, 
And  tender,  and  sympathetic,  too  — 

Our  kind  of  man. 

Ah,  one  who,  walking  the  world’s  broad  ways, 
Sees  little  to  blame,  and  much  to  praise, 

Has  cheer  and  smile  for  the  weary  throng, 
And  bold  contempt  for  the  bitter  wrong  — 
Our  kind  of  man. 

Yea,  one  who,  ignoring  baser  ends, 

Liveth  for  home  and  the  good  of  friends, 
Where,  self  forgotten,  broad  manhood  lies, 

A star  in  the  glory  of  the  skies  — 

Our  kind  of  man. 

Who  not  for  theories  but  for  deeds, 

Christ’s  own  apostle,  without  love  for  creeds, 
The  world’s  brave  prophet,  after  God’s  plan, 
In  healing  and  teaching  he  leads  the  van  — 
Our  kind  of  man.  I*  ’ 


— Anon. 


